


Murphy's Law Become Reality (or The Incarnation of the Potter's Luck)

by Dragonqueen909



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Death is a Troll, Dumble made a mistake, Dumbles going to suffer, F/M, FemHarry isn't amused, Female Harry, Gen is a pyro, M/M, Multi, Seph is angry, Soulmates, True Familiar, Zelretch lurks in the background, a big mistake, geal and zack too, gen want to burn everything, really suffer, the dursley are doom, until you anger him, voldy too, zack is a puppy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2020-10-20 02:49:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 81,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20668070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonqueen909/pseuds/Dragonqueen909
Summary: Soulmates are considered a legend. Yet even across different worlds, they can find each other, and sometimes, especially when the Goddesses agree, meet. Some are so broken that only the link can allow them to hold on... especially when dreams are the only way to communicate. THIS FIC IS ONLY POSTED HERE AND ON FFN





	1. Prologue: Mysterious Dreams

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [La Loi de Murphy Devenue Réalité (Ou L’incarnation de la Chance Potter)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20664860) by [Fumseck_73](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fumseck_73/pseuds/Fumseck_73). 

> Disclaimer: Rose Potter is mine(Fumseck_73), that's about it. The characters in Final Fantasy VII belong to Square Enix for games, Tetsuya Nomura, Takeshi Nozue, Yusuke Naora, Yoshinori Kitase and Shinji Hashimoto for Advent Children. The universe of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.
> 
> WARNING: this story will have a lot of mature content, featuring sex and rape of a child (that part will probably never be too detailed, more likely summarized), so be warned ! If you don’t like those subjects, or, God forbid, have been a victim yourself, please go read something else. Thanks you.

Rose had always known she was different. Not necessarily the way her _ "family" _ said it, though. They hated anything that didn’t fit their definition of _ "normal" _... and that included magic. They had abused her since the first day she had landed in their home, making her responsible for everything that went wrong in their lives, using her to let off steam.

When she learned she was a witch, she felt some relief. Because it explained the bizarre phenomenons that were happening around her. It didn’t explain the dreams, though. Dreams of silver and ice, red and fire, and black and plants. They were never clear anyway, and she resigned herself to never having answers.

What she didn’t know was that fate sometimes had a very strange way of working... especially when old manipulative goats decided to get involved _ "for the Greater Good" _.

oOo

Rose Iris Potter, aka the Girl-Who-Lived, aka Freak for her _ "loving" _ family, or Rose, or _ "Pup" _ for her godfather, was in a foul mood. As if what she experienced at school or in her _ "home" _ wasn’t enough, the fact that her soul had been almost devoured by a Dementor had caused the awakening of memories of her previous life. And hell, she wanted to insult the Norns, or whoever was responsible for the fact that she was reincarnated as the female version of HARRY POTTER. The only problem was that there was a gap in her memory between the moment she remembered seeing the truck go out of control and rushing towards her, and the one where she remembered her parents' death in this life. If someone was actually responsible for her situation... he or she had clearly covered their tracks.

She sank into her bed with a sigh. Ron was apparently more or less in shock, Hermione had fallen asleep, and she... she just couldn’t fall asleep, her nerves still strained tight like guitar strings. At the same time, she had spent the year having nightmares about her parent’s death, especially when the memory had become clearer because of her training with Professor Lupin's Boggart.

Rose frowned thinking of him. She would have to find a way around the plans of this old goat Dumbledore... because she was sure that he had done everything for her to be isolated and depended on a few carefully chosen people for everything that concerned the wizarding world. All these fanfictions she had read in her previous life didn’t really help her to trust the old wizard. She was going to have to find a way to get to Gringotts, she thought, grumbling, turning to her side again. If _ only _ she could sleep a little... she was so _ exhausted _.

oOo

_ Silence reigned in the plain. One that stretched out as far as the eye could see, and was covered with a vigorous grass, in which grew what looked like yellow and white lilies, but which would have had only one flower at the end of their stem. The sky was the strangest, composed of luminous filaments of a pale green, around which floated small luminous points. _

_ Rose didn’t mind this place, even if she didn’t know why she was dreaming about it. It was always better than nightmares. On the other hand, the voice that rose suddenly from her back made her jump with surprise. _

_ “Strange place.” _

_ The voice was clearly male and she realized that this was what she believed to be an inanimate support in her back. She blinked, surprised, realizing he was talking to her perhaps. Shrugging, she decided to answer. _

_ “Personally, I like it. It's always better than my nightmares.” _

_ Her interlocutor stiffened, obviously surprised, and clearly not expecting someone to answer him. She held back a desire to snicker, not wanting to upset him. Obviously, he had spoken to himself. _

_ "You didn’t expect to be answered, were you?” She asked without hiding her amusement. _

_ There was a moment of hesitation, and the man behind her spoke again. He gave her the impression of being older than her, both because of his voice and size... although it wasn’t difficult on this point, _ "thanks" _ to her family. In any case, he was able to quickly recover. _

_ “Not really, no. Who are you?” _

_ “**** ******.” _

_ “Sorry?” He asked, obviously surprised. _

_ Rose blinked repeatedly, equally puzzled. When she gave her name... all she had heard was a scrambled sound, like when Zangetsu introduced himself to Ichigo in Bleach. What the...? She tried several times to give her name, to always have the same result. She let out an annoyed sigh, even as her interlocutor gave the impression of snickering softly behind her back, if the shaking she felt were of any indication. _

_ “Why don’t you try it?” She asked finally, exasperated. _

_ He snorted with amusement before answering her. _

_ “*********.” _

_ It was her turn to snicker, and she didn’t even try to hide it. _

_ “Very funny, really,” he said in a somewhat sarcastic tone after several attempts like her. _

_ She shrugged in response. _

_ “You'll excuse me, but I had very little occasions to laugh this year," Rose explained once she had regained her seriousness. “So I do with what I can.” _

_ "Bad year?” He asked, his tone not devoid of some compassion. _

_ He knew the problem. His days were at best loaded, and at worst he didn’t know where to turn. And that was without counting when the Puppy decided to go nuts. He understood better why some people were talking about tearing their hair out. His interlocutor seemed very young to have such problems, however, if he trusted what he had observed. She sighed in response. _

_ “I was entitled to demons that bring up your worst memories on the surface," she replied darkly. _

_ “These kind of creatures exist?” He asked, disgusted. _

_ He had never heard of it, but he didn’t doubt that it could exist somewhere. After all, new species were discovered every day... or the lunatic leading the scientific department created them. The girl... or teenager, perhaps, if he trusted her voice, sighed. _

_ “Unfortunately yes. I don’t know why no one has tried to exterminate them yet," she grumbled. “It’s not because they are supposedly good prison guards that it is a good reason to continue to support them.” _

_ “Guards?” He asked, horrified, hearing that. “People use them as _ guards _ ? With the effect they apparently have on humans?” _

_ Rose answered with a bitter laugh. _

_ “The prisoners are locked up on a small island... but the walls or the sea are not really necessary, because the prisoners are literally locked inside their own head. Most... lose their mind fast, and few survive very long. Since this island is used as a prison, there has been almost no escape.” _

_ “And what memory do they bring back for you? If you don’t mind talking about it,” he added, remembering those conversations with his friends about what was acceptable to say or not to say to strangers. “I don’t want to force you.” _

_ Rose was silent for a moment, thinking about how to answer. She could hardly talk about her death in her previous life, dream or not. She decided to talk about the least "risky" subject in a way. _

_ “The murder of my parents,” she answered simply. “They were killed before my eyes when I was little. And with my childhood... those things are particularly attracted to me.” _

_ He shook his head in reply, grieved for her in a way. He hadn’t known his mother, and as for his father... the less he thinks about him, the better he was. He knew that his friends sometimes had conflicting relationships with their families... but that, despite everything, they wouldn’t part with them if they could. _

_ “How old were you, to remember?” He asked softly. _

_ “Fifteen months. And yes, I'm aware that normally, I shouldn’t be able to remember it. Except that the trauma left traces in my memory. Enough for these horrors to bring back this memory in particular. I haven’t stopped having nightmares all year long on this subject because of them.” _

_ “I'm sorry,” he said softly, feeling as if he had been much too curious. _

_ Rose snorted in response. _

_ “You aren’t responsible for their death, as far as I know. And I don’t really remember them, other than this fragment of memory. You have nothing to do with it,” she said with a sigh, rubbing her face. “And I still prefer to talk with you rather than have nightmares about their death.” _

_ “I can imagine,” he said softly in response. “I guess... considering my life so far, I would probably be subject to the same problems as you.” _

_ She chuckled with some bitterness _

_ “You must also know that I lose consciousness when they come near me, and that I can’t cast the spell to protect myself. Or I have a hard time doing it. It almost cost me my life,” she mumbled. “Fortunately this old goat saved my skin.” _

_ He frowned when he heard that. She sounded too young to have such problems. She sounded... like him. Bitter and disillusioned, even if she didn’t necessarily show it, like him. He dared not turn around to talk to her, though. Something... told him that if he did... the dream would stop. _

_ Rose didn’t know it, but she shared the same thoughts as her interlocutor. She didn’t have to turn to distinguish anything from him. She could feel something long and thin falling behind her, between their backs, which seems very much like hair. And, further on, something that looked like an arm, dressed in black leather. _

_ With a tacit agreement, both refrained from trying to get a better glimpse of each other, and continued talking about everything and nothing as long as the dream continued. He was no better at it than that, but giving little clues about their respective lives was possible. No name, however, any attempt to talk about it was apparently blocked by the force that allowed them to communicate as well. _

oOo

He brutally slammed his hand on his alarm clock, the strident sound waking him with a start and putting him in a foul mood. Normally, he always woke up before the alarm, the latter only being there in case. It was the first time he didn’t wake up first.

He groaned, however, realizing he had hit the clock hard enough to demolish it. That meant he would have to request another. The whole problem... was that it had been years since this kind of thing had happened to him. So to ask for a new one will bring questions that he would have difficulty answering. To say that it was because it was the first pleasant dream he had in years had been interrupted by his alarm? He may have been socially disabled, but not so much. Although it was still a strange dream.

Usually, when he didn’t dream of laboratories (and how many nightmares he had about them)... he dreamed of a flower. He had never been too interested in botany, so he didn’t know the name of it, but his dreams had started when he was a child... maybe about three or four years old? The petals were jet black, and the leaves bright green, darker than his own eyes.

At first, the flower was closed, as are certain flowers at night. And then... the more time that passed, the more the flower had seemed... sick? In any case, it had begun to wither very quickly in his memories. Sometimes, he had been able to give it strength, but he had never really managed to understand how. And the symbols that were engraved on the leaves made him want to find the person responsible... and to massacre them. He couldn’t read them... but he instinctively felt they were not good for the flower. And yet... it continued to... keep its head up? In any case, it was the impression he had. It had begun to open in recent years, despite its sickly state. Because, despite that... it seemed to... prosper? How?

He forced himself to keep calm, thinking back to a dream he had made last year or two years ago. The flower... he didn’t know what had happened to it, but the flower had started to... keen? She had in any case made cries of pain (and how much he was familiar with this sound...), and the petals had been shredded, letting out blood. He still remembered his icy fury when he woke up. Even the lunatic from the science department had left him alone even though he had an appointment that day. One of the few mercies of the universe. He had to kill dragons repeatedly in a VR room for several hours before feeling calm enough to face the world. Unfortunately... he had also seriously damaged it, putting it out of service for almost two weeks. Luckily, no one had approached him that day other than his friends, and they had mostly left him in peace, simply offering him their silent presence in support.

With a sigh, he got up and started to get ready for the day. At least... despite the brutal awakening, his dream had put him in a better mood than he would have been after a day spent in the labs.

oOo

Rose awoke with a start, cursing the shrill sound that had cut the dream. Well, in the end, she had at least had a better night than she expected after saving Sirius from all those Dementors. It was always that.

Now, it was a question of surviving the summer after being sent to her jailers. Joy. With a sigh, she stood up, running her hand through her hair in a vain attempt to flatten them. As usual, it failed, and she resigned herself to having her hair looking like a bird's nest.

Thoughtfully, she wondered if she could find help from the Goblins to protect her mind. Rose didn’t want Dumbledork (as she decided to call him in her mind) to find that she was a reincarnation from another world and knew pretty much what would happen in the future... as well as his machinations concerning her. And protecting her mind from Voldemort was also very attractive... but perhaps impossible given the link they shared. At least she was pretty sure it was one way, from him to her, and only when he felt violent emotions. Rose shivered at that. The idea of getting a glimpse of Voldemort's thoughts was absolutely terrifying, even knowing what to expect.

_ Now... how to convince Remus to accept help? _ She wondered while getting dressed. It was going to be hard to convince him to accept without feeling like he was getting charity... or going to see Dumbledork. She really wanted to avoid alerting this old goat.

Rose let out a sigh. Strategy had never been her strong point in her previous life, and even in this one, it was complicated. She decided to go see the Goblins as soon as she could. And maybe even take Dobby in her service, just in case. The whole problem would be to convince Hermione not to burst a cable. She frowned, wondering if Dumbledork wasn’t by chance responsible for her behavior change in the coming year. Hermione's obsession with... freeing the house elves was extreme, and, from what she remembered reading in the books, barely scratched the surface of the subject. She hadn’t even talked to a house elf outside of Dobby and Winky, and barely!

Would Dumbledork have used spells to... alter or tamper with her friend's behavior?

Rose resolved to ask for amulets to protect people from this kind of things to the Goblins, if they knew how to make them or where to buy them without anyone asking questions.

oOo

Rose had to fight frustration after talking with Remus. It had taken her half an hour to convince him not to go to Dumbledork. And for the rest... so much as talking to a wall. She began to suspect that he too was under the influence of spells altering his judgment. So that meant an amulet for him too... and, for that matter, one for Sirius too, you never know.

With a sigh, she rubbed her temples. Her life was even more complicated than she would have thought when she woke up. At least Ginny was not a fangirl so obsessed with her that she wanted to marry her. And if she could kill Ron's jealousy in the bud... maybe next year would be more bearable. Rose took note, however, of looking for different forms of magical oath. So as to not being treated as an outcast throughout the year... and if she could manage to save Cedric, it would be even better.

With another sigh, she collapsed on the covers. At least she knew where all that bastard Voldemort’s Horcruxes were. She made a mental note of talking to the Goblins about it. We never knew, maybe they could do something for the one she had in her head, she thought, frowning, rubbing her scar. _ Let’s hope it's safer than Basilisk's venom _, Rose thought as she shuddered, thinking back to the giant snake. She was not sure anything could be worse than that or a dragon.

Shaking her head, she changed quickly, responding distractedly to Hermione when she asked her what Remus would do in the future, and what kind of teacher they would have next year. Rose could hardly say that it would be a Death Eater escaped from Azkaban thanks to his father, so she said she had no idea. Pulling the draperies around her bed, she cast a silencing charm on it. The problem with Parvati and Lavander was that they were talking in their sleep... and sometimes had conversations while sleeping! She had found it funny the first time... before getting tired and looking for a way to block it.

Sighing, she slipped under the covers, turning to one side. She had always struggled to fall asleep because of the Dursleys, but now she was waiting for sleep almost impatiently. Because his dream with this stranger... had been nice. He had clearly noticed that she was younger than him, yes, but had not commented on it. He had treated her like an adult... and it was refreshing after the condescending way Dumbledork treated her. Oh, he was hiding his game well, but... we felt he only saw her as a pawn to be sacrificed. Too bad for him, the sacrificial lamb had no intention of accepting very nicely to go to the slaughterhouse.

Turning to the side, she let herself slowly slip into sleep. This stranger... she would have to find him a nickname. Something to do with the ice perhaps? She remembered having smell ice, like the Black Lake in winter, and leather in the dream. _ Something related to that... _ she thought as she fell asleep.

oOo

_ Rose blinked, a little surprised. The dream... was different from last night. The landscape was the same, as well as the fact that she was back to someone, but everything else was different. This time... it was a smell of apples and firewood floating in the atmosphere. The person to whom she was leaning on was different too. It was subtle, and she would have been unable to say how it was different, but she felt it. The voice of his companion rose in the air, his inflections as soft and graceful as those of a poet: _

_ “Lovely landscape... but why am I here?” _

_ Rose chuckled, startling him in surprise. _

_ “That's the million-dollar question, my good sir. Personally, I do not try to understand. Always more pleasant than my nightmares.” _

_ His interlocutor remained silent, before moving, as if he wanted to turn around, and Rose stopped him immediately. _

_ “If I were you, I would avoid doing that. I'm pretty sure that would interrupt the... dream? Our discussion anyway.” _

_ The man stopped, before speaking again, sounding skeptical: _

_ “How do you know?” _

_ Her laugh was bitter this time. _

_ “Instinct, I would say. I learned to follow it, even though I have no survival instinct. And I feel... that if one of us turns around, our... encounter will stop. Still, it's not the desire I miss to see what you look like.” _

_ “Interested?” He asked, sounding almost amused. “You seem a little young for that, though.” _

_ Rose rolled her eyes. _

_ "You make me think of my defense professor last year when you say that. Except that he was an incompetent moron.” _

_ His interlocutor let out an outraged sound, visibly offended. _

_ “I feel insulted to be compared to an incompetent! I am too fabulous for that! And most importantly, I'm not incompetent!” _

_ “I hope for you,” replied Rose with amusement. _

_ “Why do you call him incompetent, by the way?” He asked, sounding sincerely intrigued. _

_ Rose rolled her eyes in front of this drama queen. At least he looked competent, not like Lockhart. _

_ “That idiot was good at one thing only, to question his victims to know exactly what they had done... before erasing their memory and claiming their exploits for himself. Playing peacocks, that he knew how to do too. On the other hand, act, nada. He actually tried to _ run away _ when I and a friend of mine went to see him, to try to get his help with our little snake problem that was wandering around the school.” _

_ “Little snake problem?” He asked in a half-amused, half-perplexed tone. “Why do I feel it's more serious than that?” _

_ “Considering the fact that the snake in question had to exceed 30 meters... yes, rather. And yet, I didn’t have time to take its measurements, I was a little too busy trying not to be eaten.” _

_ There was a blank for a few seconds, then he spoke again, sounding incredulous. _

_ “You had a ****** ***** in your school?!? But how did it get there?” _

_ “I could not understand the name you gave, but from what I know, this damn ******** was there since the foundation of my school, about a millennium ago.” _

_ He was speechless, dumbfounded. Not because of the fact that the names are blocked, but because of the fact that a giant snake had apparently wandered through a _ school _ full of children... and especially that it would have had a life expectancy of almost a millennium. _

_ “And there were no deaths?” He asked with some concern in his voice. _

_ “Not this time. There was a person who died about fifty years ago... and she still haunts the bathroom where she died, by the way. That said, it's a good place to plot, since no one wants to go there,” Rose said with some amusement. “Fortunately, it was as far as I know the only representative of its species currently alive, and now that I killed that damn giant snake, there is no other. Normally. On the other hand, its carcass must be worth its weight in gold, it will be necessary that I inquire to sell it.” _

_ “Materialist?” He asked, sarcastically. _

_ “You can never know what the future may hold for you,” she said quickly. “And most of all... I may come from a family that is old money... I have bad feelings about my finances.” _

_ He frowned. _

_ “Do you have no family?” _

_ Rose sighed in response. _

_ “My parents... were murdered before my eyes when I was a baby. The people I live with... didn’t want me, or what I represent. If I could, I would abandon them willingly to their fate.” _

_ "But you don’t do it," he remarked. “Why?” _

_ “An old goat who decided to control my life,” she replied bitterly. “My godfather... the person who should have taken care of me if something happened to my parents... spent a fucking decade in prison for a crime he didn’t commit!” She exclaimed angrily. “The worst thing is that the person responsible for this crime lived the life of pasha all this time, before fleeing when he was exposed! The day I'm going to get my hands on him, I'd be happy to ask for him to have my godfather old cell! The latter had to escape from prison to try to protect me!” _

_ His interlocutor shuddered at her vindictive tone... although he could vaguely understand it. To spend a decade in prison for a crime that we had not committed... it was a horrible idea. And she said he escaped? How? _

_ “Your godfather... escaped?” He asked, puzzled. “How? And why?” _

_ Rose sighed in response. She couldn’t possibly say that he was an illegal Animagus. _

_ “The... guardians of the prison where he was locked up... are demons, literally, and blind. So he took advantage of that to escape... and swim to the shore, because yes, the prison is located on an island in the sea. And you know the best?” _

_ “No?” He asked with some hesitation. _

_ “My godfather, the traitor who _ sold _ my parents and my defense teacher this year were friends!” She exclaimed angrily. “They formed a small group of friends at school, who had sworn to always be there for each other. Except that this fucking traitor betrayed my parents by leading to them a terrorist who was after _ my fucking skin _ ! They _ died _ trying to protect me!” _

_ His interlocutor blinked, shocked, hearing that. Her parents... had been murdered in front of her? In trying to protect her? A terrorist was after them? Or, rather, after her, from what she said? _

_ “How old were you?” He asked with astonishment and perplexity. “And why did he wanted to kill you?” _

_ Rose snorted with irony. _

_ “Fifteen months. And this fool has heard a " _ prophecy _ " predicting that I might be able to defeat him. And this nutcase decided to come and kill me when I was a baby, because he cannot stand the competition!” _

_ He shook his head, disgusted. _

_ “Some are crazy,” he says with some bitterness. “To pick on a _ baby _ ? But what kind of madman do that?” _

_ Rose chuckled with bitterness. _

_ “The kind that is so terrified of death that he prefers to tear his soul apart for " _ immortality _ ", or, in any case, a form of it.” _

_ He snorted sarcastically. _

_ “Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul,” he murmured to himself more than anything else. “Nothing is immortal. And what idea of mutilating his soul like that?” _

_ Rose shrugged in response. _

_ “He’s crazy, what do you want. And he is after my skin, unfortunately. This freak is a particularly bad loser. He tried to kill me at fifteen months old, when I was eleven years old by possessing one of my teachers and last year via a diary, and I know he's going to start again next year. I don’t intend to make it easy for him, but with the old goat who serves me as Headmaster, it's not easy.” _

_ “Why?” _

_ “Because this old bastard has decided to make me a martyr. Every time I asked him to help, or why this freak was after me, he sent me to bed like a little child, without telling me. He doesn’t want me to train to defend myself, because I'm " _ too young for that _ ". Hey oh! I have a psychopath after my ass, who wants me dead! If possible in horrible agony!” _

_ He frowned. _

_ "This old man has a serious problem, obviously.” _

_ “No, you don’t say?” She asked, sarcasm dripping in her voice. “And of course, I'm not entitled to help when I have problems! I have to settle everything alone, or almost! My friends have all the trouble in the world to stay with me to help me, and yet it's not for lack of trying!” _

_ "At least you have loyal friends," he remarked. _

_ “Yes. Even if one would need to distance herself a little from books. They are written by humans, and can lie too. As for the other... well he needs a slap to get his ideas back in place and calm his morbid jealousy.” _

_ “Why?” He asked, frowning. _

_ “He is jealous of me for the wrong reasons... and I am also jealous of him, even if not for the same reasons. They may be healthier, but…” _

_ “But?” He asked softly, far from his usual flamboyant side. _

_ "He's jealous of me because I'm famous for supposedly defeating the terrorist who murdered my parents," she said bitterly. “Me... I'm jealous that he has a _ real _ family. Money doesn’t mean much to me. I would give all the gold I have at the bank for a chance to have my parents. But I have a hard time driving it through his thick skull. Being a hero is not great; on the contrary. Everyone expects so much of you that you just cannot make everyone happy. And what do you get in the end? Nothing, if not loneliness. You really have to like the crappy ends to want to be a hero.” _

_ Outraged, her interlocutor started to turn around to protest against this pessimistic vision of his own dream... _

oOo

To suddenly fall from his bed, banging his head against his bedside table. With tears in his eyes from the pain, he took several seconds to realize that he was in his room… and that what had just happened was a dream. With an exasperated growl, he straightened up, getting back on the bed properly. Rubbing his forehead, he frowned, reflecting on this strange dream.

Since as far back as he could remember… he dreamed of a flower. However… despite all his research, he had never found out what species it was. The petals were jet black, and the leaves bright green.

At first, the flower was closed, as are some flowers at night, or like when still in bud. And then, the more time had passed… the more the flower had seemed… sick? In any case, it had begun to wither very quickly in his memories.

Sometimes… he remembered that it had found itself with snow on it, seeming to curl up under the cold. When it happened at the beginning… he had tried to take it against him to warm it up. He had blessed the day he had found a way to make fire around it. Whenever he saw the cold begin to affect it in his dreams, he was eager to warm it up as best he could. The symbols that were engraved on the leaves, on the other hand… they made him want to find the person responsible… and to burn them alive. He couldn’t decipher them (and yet it wasn’t for lack of searching…), but he felt instinctively that they were just _ not _good for the flower.

And yet… it continued to... refuse to let itself be defeated? In any case, it was the impression he had. It had begun to open in recent years, despite its sickly state. And despite that… it seemed… to hold on? How?

His train of thought brought him to the dream he had just made. Strangely… this girl with whom he had just spoken in this dream… made him think of this flower. Weakened, bitter… but refusing to give up. Despite the obstacles she faced.

The only thing that actually caused him any real problem… was this pessimistic view of the hero status she seemed to have. And the worst thing was that she seemed to speak from experience. As if she lived it. For what reasons? And above all… _ how _ did a child know or think about this stuff? He fought the urge to set fire to his bedroom, remembering a dream he had made last year or two years ago. The flower… he didn’t know what had happened to it, but it had started to… keen? It had in any case made cries of pain (and how he had a presentiment that something terrible had happened…), and the petals had been like… torn, letting out a liquid identical to blood. He still remembered his state of hot fury when he woke up.

No one had dared to approach him that day, even more than usual, especially since he had _ charred _ the coffee machine upstairs after it swallowed his change without giving him his usual coffee. He had need to carbonize monsters repeatedly in a VR room for several hours before feeling calm enough to face the world. His childhood friend was the only one who was brave enough to approach him that day when he was even more… explosive than normal. He had literally fumed with rage for a good part of the day, even after venting into the VR room until it was charred enough to put it out of order for several days. He still remembered the group of soldiers and cadets he had met. The latter had literally pissed themselves in terror, especially when they saw the heat waves emanating from him, and the fact that he had _ carbonized _ everything he had touched. One of the soldiers had to be sent to the infirmary after he had the misfortune to ask him why he had spoken of a bleeding flower. _ A flower doesn’t bleed! _He had said. Before screaming in terror when the anger of the pyroman had focused on him, eager to find a target on which to let off steam. Enhancements or not, there were limits to what a human body could support. And let's say he didn't hold back on the power of his fireballs. Despite being a little tired of having charred the VR room, he had literally found a new breath when it came to venting on this poor soldier. It didn’t help his reputation, though. But he didn’t care.

Glancing at his clock, he groaned realizing it was still the middle of the night. Much too early to get up. With an annoyed sigh, he lay back down, returning under the covers. They had an important mission the next day, and he had a reputation to keep. He may have been an inveterate pyroman... but he couldn’t be blamed for botching his duties. Even the most boring ones.

oOo

Rose awoke with a start, and couldn’t help but curse the idiot of her dream. He _ had _ to try to turn around! Groping for her wand and watch, she murmured a _ Lumos _ to see the time. Before groaning. Barely three in the morning. Which meant one or more nightmares in perspective if she could get back to sleep. But she needed to sleep. Luckily, the classes are finished, she thought with frustration. At least she didn’t have to fear for her notes.

With an annoyed growl, she set her watch and her wand down after whispering _ Nox _ to turn off the light. She got back to bed, trying to get back to sleep. Not easy, with her life _ and _ the Dementors who had harassed her this year.

Rose was right to think that the rest of the night would be agitated. It was even a euphemism. She spent the rest of it waking up every five minutes (or at least that was her impression) because of nightmares about her parents' death or hers.

She had huge bags under her eyes the next morning, but managed to chalk it up to a remnant of the Dementors’ effects to the other occupants of the dormitory. Only Hermione looked a little skeptical, but luckily she said nothing. Rose, however, declined the offer of Parvati and Lavander to hide her dark circles. Even in her previous life, she hated makeup. So in this one…

She managed more or less to survive her day, although she would have been unable to say how later. All she remembered was taking a nap that day during the Divination class. She had been more awake after that, but she was waiting impatiently for the evening. As Ron had noticed, nothing was worth your bed to sleep. Especially since the Divination classroom was stifling, and only fatigue had allowed her to fall asleep. Luckily, Ron had distracted Trelawney when she tried to talk to Rose, and Rose was immensely grateful to her friend, promising herself to offer him something good as soon as she could.

She greeted her bed happily, falling on the mattress with an exhausted sigh. In other times, she would have made a comparison with a whale. Except that it would be like comparing to her obese uncle. Rose shuddered thinking about him, burying _ some _memories deep in her mind. At least, with Sirius, she should have peace this year.

Putting on her pajamas, she crawled under the covers, forming a large, shapeless mass. She still took the trouble to close the draperies and cast a silencing spell on them. She didn’t know who she would dream of tonight... considering that she had been dreaming of different people for two nights in a row. And what could be the meaning of her dreams? In any case, she hoped that if it fell again on Mr Apple and Smoke, he would refrain from turning to try to see her.

She slipped into sleep without even realizing it, too exhausted by her horrible night.

oOo

Far away, an old man was watching the scene with a certain amusement, his ruby eyes glittering with humor and a certain joy at what was happening. He didn’t doubt that he would probably be cursed if ever his role in this story came to be known, but... he was getting too much fun watching the plans of another old man falling apart little by little. Keeping the connection open didn’t require much effort, and he had to admit to enjoying seeing fate change before his eyes. After all… these three brothers had been his only successful apprentices… even though one could argue on this last point. After all… the mental health of his apprentices was generally debatable when he was done with them.

Chuckling softly, he turned his attention to other events, respecting the privacy of the people he had put in contact. Whatever you say about him… he wasn’t a voyeur. A troll, yes. But a voyeur? Certainly not. And it was fun to keep some mystery.

oOo

_ “Again?” Rose groaned, exasperated. _

_ Once again, the flowery plain was spreading around her… and again, she was with a different person. When will this stop? This time… it was a smell of earth and plants floating in the air. And the back against which she was leaning on was wide and solid, even more so than the other two. The person in question spoke in turn, looking embarrassed. _

_ “Again? What do you mean by that?” He asked hesitantly, seeming to realize her mood. _

_ Rose let out a sigh in response. He didn’t have to endure her bad mood after all, he was certainly not at fault for anything more than her. _

_ "Sorry," she said more calmly. “It's just that for two nights… I’ve been having this dream, but never twice with the same person. You're just the third one I'm talking to… and whose identity I don’t know.” _

_ He blinked in surprise before speaking again. _

_ “My name is ****** ******, what about you?” He said, before blinking in disbelief as Rose burst out laughing. _

_ "Sorry," she said when she was able to resume her seriousness. “But the names, whether of species or our own names, are apparently blocked. And if you turn around, it will interrupt the dream. I was able to verify it last night.” _

_ “So… impossible to give our names?” He asked, perplexed and a bit annoyed in front of it. “And a nickname?” _

_ Rose tilted her head thoughtfully. The idea had merit, indeed. Why not try? _

_ “And what kind of nickname would you give me?” She asked, curious. _

_ He didn’t seem to be the type to give her a ridiculous name, from what she felt. She had an impression… of honor coming from him. The latter tilted his head thoughtfully, thinking. His interlocutor seemed to him… quite young, from what he heard and felt on his back. And the air… smelled like a flower. Not one he knew, however, but a sweet smell of flowers. _

_ After a few minutes of reflection, he ends up proposing something: _

_ “Something like… Little Flower?” He said, a little hesitantly. _

_ Rose blinked, before giggling, amused. _

_ "Adapted," she said, unable to keep a smile out of her voice, “since my first names refer to flowers.” _

_ A smile escaped him in turn. It had taken him less time to find a nickname for this hyperactive kid he had decided to take under his wing, but everyone had adopted it immediately, so much it was adapted. Between his hyperactive character and his attention as limited as that of a puppy… the nickname was just perfect. And the one he had found for this young teenager… was just as perfect. He was quite annoyed that he couldn’t get her real name, but the nickname was adorable and respectful enough. Taking the floor, his grave and steady voice echoed softly in this strange place. _

_ “And what nickname would you give me?” He asked, sincerely curious. _

_ Rose cocked her head sideways in turn pensive. She wasn’t really good at giving nicknames to people, and even in her games, the names given to characters or critters (or Pokémons), or those of her horses, were not necessarily terrible. She scrolled through possible names in her head, trying to find some in relation to the smells that floated in the air. Earth and plants mainly, with a mineral background, like stones. Terra? No, she thought, shaking her head. He had nothing to do with the character of Kingdom Hearts. Golem? She winced. It was already better, but not yet adapted. Finally, a name emerged from all those she thought of. Groot. The name of the humanoid plant in the Guardians of the Galaxy. The character was pretty ridiculous in itself, the little she had seen of the movie (she had never looked more than the beginning before dying), but with the smell of plants... it was the one that hit her the more. By the way… why had it ended up as a baby potted plant in the end? _

_ Finally, she realized that her companion was patiently waiting for an answer, and recovered. She had digressed enough like that. _

_ “Groot?” She suggested hesitantly. _

_ “Groot?” He repeated, perplexed. “Is there a reason for that?” _

_ "Well," she said, embarrassed, "it's a big, humanoid tree. And as I smell plants and earth…” _

_ He snorted with some amusement when he heard that. He was known to have a green thumb among his companions, and even though his childhood friend was cursing his tendency to grow plants in their common apartment… he _ was able _ to grow plants in the tower, which was already an exploit, considering the state of the plains around the city. So have a nickname related to plants? It didn’t bother him. Even if he couldn’t imagine a humanoid tree. _

_ Rose let out a quiet sigh of relief, realizing he wasn’t offended by the name. It was something. She didn’t really want to end up having nightmares again. She let out a tired yawn, still exhausted from her bad night. _

_ “Bad night?” "Groot" asked gently. _

_ Rose shook her head in response, letting herself go against his broad and reassuring back. The heat that emanated from him was nice, and she wanted to enjoy it as much as possible. _

_ “I spent the year having nightmares about the murder of my parents,” she replied darkly. “We were entitled to _ demons _ that bring back your worst memories to the surface. I couldn’t even run the risk of going out of school, otherwise I could be attacked by those shits! They said they were there for our protection! My ass!” _

_ “Your protection?” He questioned, shocked and furious at the same time. “Protection against what? And why didn't anyone do anything against them?” _

_ Rose laughed bitterly, before starting to explain her story. She didn’t talk about the Dursleys, but told him what she knew about her story, and what happened with Sirius. The betrayal of Pettigrew, the murder of her parents before her own eyes when she was a baby, the confinement of Sirius, and his escape when he learned that Wormtail was in the _ same _ school... and especially the same House. _

_ Groot was furious on hearing this. How could people be stupid enough to believe that a baby could have defeated an _ adult _ terrorist? And above all… how could they have treated her like this? For a moment she was their Savior, an object of veneration, and the other, she was the incarnation of this terrorist! If he had been there… he would have let them know his way of thinking about their treatment of this child! He was known for his speeches on honor in the army… and most of all, his distaste for harassment, as one of his friends. There was no honor to blame someone weaker than you, or someone so isolated. _

_ He let her know, and Rose laughed bitterly. _

_ “People are morons with a sheep mentality. Education doesn’t help, I admit, but they prefer to believe what is published in the press or what their "leaders" say, without thinking for themselves. Also, they are cowards who prefer to do what is easy rather than right. Terrorists generally operated at one against ten, sometimes more, and had the balance of power against them. But people were too cowardly to want to fight, and they preferred to keep their heads in the sand rather than face the reality… and if their leader had not attacked me… the government would have fallen in the weeks that would have followed.” _

_ He shook his head in disgust. _

_ “And what are you going to do?” He asked. _

_ Rose sighed. _

_ “Honestly… a part of me is serious considering leaving everything behind and abandon them to their fate. The only reason I don’t do it… is that the chief terrorist is still alive, and he will not let me go before I’m dead. Plus… I have a few people I care about in this crazy world. And I don’t intend to let the murder of my parents go unpunished. I don’t want to kill, but…” _

_ “What do you mean?” Groot asked, puzzled and furious. “You aren’t telling me that people expect you to _ kill _ someone with your own hands? You are not even a warrior, nor even an adult!” _

_ Rose could not restrain the bitterness and anger in her voice. _

_ “They don’t care. All they want... is a scapegoat to blame when things go wrong, and a sacrificial lamb for the rest. Oh, I don’t doubt that they will make me a grandiose funeral if I come to go down "heroically" by killing this nutcase… but it will serve me nothing. I don’t want to die, or become a murderer, but adults refuse to take things in hand. So I don’t have much choice.” _

_ Groot shared her anger. If he had been there, he would have done everything so that she wouldn’t have to get to that point. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply to regain his composure. It wasn’t like he could do anything to help her… unless he offered his support and presence. After all… it was just a dream. _

_ Deliberately, he turned the subject around to talk about other things, trying to distract and cheer her up. It seemed to work, at least in part, because her voice became lighter and happier. The bitterness didn’t disappear completely, but he felt she appreciated his efforts to distract her. _

_ After a moment, he noticed that her answers were becoming more and more distant and distracted, until she stopped completely. He took a few moments to realize that she had fallen asleep, and shook his head with sadness and amusement. Obviously… she had slept worse than he thought. Letting out a slight sigh, he decided to let her sleep… if one could sleep in a dream. _

oOo

He opened one eye, half asleep, before sighing, seeing the time. He had to get up to make breakfast for his friends, even though he would have liked to continue talking with Flower. Of his two friends... one was an inveterate pyroman, and the other wasn’t a great cook. Oh, he was able to make food, no problem on that side, but he didn’t take much pleasure doing it. And he had enough to do like that. As for himself... he didn’t mind cooking, and he even liked that. And even the hyperactive kid he had taken under his wing loved his cooking.

He got up with a grunt, stretching himself to untie his muscles. Going to the kitchen, he began to think about this hyperactive kid. He was barely old enough to join the army (and he was almost certain he had run away from home), but... he felt the potential in this kid. He had seen him with a sword in hand... and by the Goddess, the kid had talent. Hyperactive, certainly, and with an even worse attention span than that of a puppy, but a rare talent, of the kind found once in a thousand.

And he didn’t intend to see this talent be lost just because the instructors couldn’t keep up with this kid. Apprenticeship was perhaps a practice that was getting lost... but if he took him under his wing... he saw the boy progress at a speed never seen before.

His mind drifted again, and he began to think back to the dreams he had been making till now.

Since as far back as he could remember... he dreamed of a flower. However... despite all his research, he had never found out what species it was. The petals were jet black, and the leaves bright green. At first, the flower was closed, like some flowers at night, or like when still in bud. And then, the more time had passed... the more the flower had seemed... sick? In any case, it had begun to wither very quickly in his memories.

Sometimes... he remembered that it curled up, as if it was running out of nutrients. The soil it seemed to grow on seemed fertile, but... it was like someone was_ blocking _ the nutrients, preventing them from reaching it. As if refusing it the fertilizer it badly needed. And he was _ powerless _ to help it. And the symbols that were engraved on the leaves... they made him want to find the person responsible... and to let them know his way of thinking. He couldn’t decipher them (and yet he had searched for it...), but he instinctively felt they were just _ not _ good for the flower.

And yet... it continued to... refuse to let itself be defeated? In any case, it was the impression he had. It had begun to open in recent years, despite its sickly state. And despite that... it seemed to... hold on? How? He struggled to keep calm, thinking back to a dream he had made last year. The flower... he didn’t know at all what had happened to it, but the flower had begun to... keen? In any case, it had made cries of pain (and how much he had felt that something very, very serious had happened...), and the petals had been like... lacerated, letting blood flow. He still remembered his fury when he woke up. No one had dared to approach him that day, people were too frightened by his incomprehensible anger and without any apparent cause, especially since he had _ totally destroyed _ a VR room with his sword, so much had he been furious. He normally controlled himself much better than that, and it usually took a lot to make him lose his composure. But there... He had been unable to hold back his strength, and instead of just destroying the monsters he was facing, he had reached the metal, so much had he hit hard. Nobody had dared to say anything to him, however, with how much this anger was out of character for him. What could have happened to this flower?

His train of thought brought him to the dream he had just made. Strangely... this girl with whom he had just spoken in this dream... made him think of this flower. Weakened, bitter... but refusing to give up. Despite the obstacles she faced.

Groot whistled while preparing breakfast, deliberately trying to think of the kid he wanted to train, knowing that his childhood friend would soon be attracted by the smell of food (you could add to him the label of walking stomach in addition to a pyromaniac, he said to himself with amusement at seeing him enter the kitchen, his eyes half closed), and that their other friend would come to take a new cup of coffee soon, with pancakes to make it through and hold until lunch.

The whole problem... it would be to convince his childhood friend to not give to his jealousy by seeing that another person was joining their small group. But he had his methods. And then it wasn’t like he was going to neglect him. He wouldn’t lose his place in his heart, even if another person was added to it.

Greeting their friend, he began the long and difficult task of explaining to his childhood friend his decision to take an apprentice. Of course, as he had expected, his reaction was exaggerated and very theatrical. The trick was to prevent him from picking up speed and stopping him as quickly as possible. That wouldn't prevent him to start again regularly, until it entered his thick skull.

oOo

Rose woke up softly, and took a long time to realize that she was back in bed, and no longer in this strange plain. Yawning, she got up, her mind still on her dreams. Strangely... it reminded her of this place where Aerith was talking to Cloud, the Lifestream. She snorted, amused, thinking about that. It wasn’t like she could communicate with any other fandom! Rose shook her head with some sorrow as she thought about it. The power needed to move from one universe to another was huge, if she trusted Stargate SG1. They had even used a _ black hole _ to connect the universes! On the other hand... how could the quantum mirror work in this case?

Her mind kept turning on these thoughts throughout the day, distracting her. Anyway, now that the exams were over... it was quiet. No need to pay so much attention. Of course, Hermione wasn’t really of that opinion, but if Rose was more calm... that didn’t mean that she relaxed. Just... that she didn’t take it to heart anymore.

Ron, on the other hand, seemed strangely pensive, to Rose's greatest perplexity. Why? She wondered if that meant he had become aware of something before shaking her head. _ Don’t dream _, she told herself, snorting. She wasn’t so lucky.

The day went off without a hitch, and, without her having seen the time passed, she found herself in the evening. As usual, Rose got ready for the night, wondering who she would talk to this time, or if she was going to have nightmares. She sighed wearily. Part of her was hoping to talk with Mr Ice and Leather, or with Groot. Mr. Apple and Smoke, though... she was less sure of that. He didn’t look bad, but... he seemed a bit... off the mark. And it made her think vaguely of Ron on the edges. In less serious, but still.

Pulling the draperies around her, she snuggled under the covers with a sigh. Part of her... didn’t want to sleep alone. She... would have liked to sleep against someone who would protect her from bad dreams. Like Groot. He... made him feel safe. The other two, too, now that she thought about it. Not quite the same... but she felt safe with them too. A snort escaped her. It wasn’t with the Dursleys that she would feel that way.

Shaking her head, she turned to the other side, pulling up the blankets to hide her head. The Dursleys... were not a family for her. Not in the same way as she saw at the Burrow, with the Weasleys. These people... were only people with whom she had the misfortune of being related. And for those... "people", it was clear that it meant nothing.

Rose forced herself to think of something else. This kind of thoughts... was guaranteed to make her have a very bad night. But until now... she had never consciously thought of that. Because as Rose... she had never known anything else. It was only thanks to her previous life that she knew that what was going on had far more sinister connotations than she had thought.

She sighed, and tried to clear her mind to get to sleep. Still, her mind kept coming back to those three people she was talking to. Who were they?

Sleep eventually seized her without even realizing it, and took her to a new meeting... which would be the last.

oOo

_ Again? Rose thought in her mind, exasperated. I'm sick of this bullshit! _

_ Once again, the flowery plain was spreading around her... and again, she was with a different person. Hell, that made at least the _ fourth _ person with whom she found herself in this dream! This time, though... was slightly different, she felt. For starters... the person with her (again a man apparently) was smaller than the other three with whom she had spoken so far. Was he younger? Plus... he was vibrating almost literally against her back, like an over-excited puppy. _

_ She frowned, a little puzzled. She couldn’t really recognize the smells this time around. There was a smell like... wet forest? In any case, it was like those times when she was in the forest after a rain. There was also another smell in the air... a strange fruity smell and soft, almost sweet. She couldn’t recognize it though. Maybe an exotic fruit? _

_ She sighed softly. The Dursleys refused to eat too many "exotic" fruits, because it wasn’t something that "normal" people ate... except when they were expensive. And when they did, she could always dream (literally) to taste those fruits. _

_ A little annoyed by the person (the boy?) who vibrated behind her back, she spoke: _

_ “Can you calm down a little? You looks like an overexcited puppy!” _

_ Her interlocutor froze, visibly surprised, before whining (really like a puppy): _

_ “Not again! But why does everyone compare me to a puppy?” He moaned in dismay. _

_ Rose couldn’t help but laugh at that. _

_ “Really? Who else is calling you that?” _

_ “My mentor, ****** ******, he is... What?” _

_ Rose laughed again. _

_ “Sorry big guy, but impossible to give names here. It's a bit painful, but we do with it!” _

_ “How do you know that?” He asked curiously. _

_ He was dying to turn around to see who he was talking to, but something was preventing him. He felt that if he did, the dream would come to an end. And he didn’t really want that. He wondered how old she could be. From what he felt in his back and her voice, she must have been barely younger than him. He felt her shrug, leaning against him. _

_ “Already dreamed of three other people, and no way to give my name... or to have theirs, even if one of them was an idiot and tried to turn around. Spoiler, it stopped the dream short!” _

_ The boy snorted. _

_ “What an idiot. He knew it was going to do that, at least?” _

_ “Yep, but it didn’t stop him! Yet I had warned him. Though, he didn’t seem to like my vision of being a hero.” _

_ “What do you mean?” He asked, half-vexed half-perplexed. _

_ What was she against hero status? It was his dream beside… well, not the one he was in now, but what he dreamed of becoming. He felt her sigh, suddenly weary and bitter. _

_ “Being a hero, it's nothing great, quite the contrary. Everyone expects so much of you that you just cannot make everyone happy. And what do you get in the end? Nothing, if not loneliness. You really have to like the crappy ends to want to be a hero.” _

_ “You really think so?” He questioned, astonished and saddened for her. _

_ Why was she so pessimistic? Being a hero was not so bad... no? No? He heard her sigh, as if she had the misery of the world on her shoulders. _

_ “From my personal experience... yes. I'm famous for supposedly defeating the terrorist who murdered my parents,” she said bitterly. “As if a baby of fifteen months was able to do that! But no, since my mother had parents who didn’t have magic, she couldn’t do that!! People are morons with a sheep mentality. They prefer to believe that I would have been able to do that, rather than accept that my mother has found a way to do something to protect me!” _

_ He shook his head, disgusted. Why were some people so stupid? Even though, from what she said, it was rather society as a whole that had a problem. He decided to change the subject, wanting to draw her from her depressing thoughts. _

_ “And so... if we cannot give our names... is a nickname possible?” _

_ Rose giggled. _

_ “A nickname is quite possible. One of the people I was talking to... called me Little Flower.” _

_ He blinked, before chuckling. _

_ "It's pretty," he said with amusement. “And what would you give me as a nickname? Not the Puppy I hope!” _

_ Rose burst out laughing in response. _

_ “But it's so adapted! You vibrate like a puppy!” _

_ “Buuuuuuuuut!” Moaned the concerned, secretly happy despite everything to get her to laugh. “It's not fair, everyone calls me that already!” _

_ “We won’t wonder why!” Rose replied, amused. _

_ The dream went on thus, the two teenagers bickering gently, without heat. More like two teenagers coming to meet, who realized that they were perfectly compatible. Rose... appreciated this new meeting. Her interlocutor was fun, kind, and just adorable in general. To the point that, very quickly, they agreed to be informal with each other. In addition, they seemed to be the same age, almost. His enthusiasm... really lifted Rose's morale... and how much she needed it with her life. _

_ Rose regretted only one thing with these dreams... it was that they didn’t allow her to see who she was talking to. _

oOo

The boy woke with a start when the alarm clock sounded in the dormitory, and groaned in despair. Why did dreams always have to stop at the best time? It didn’t take him long to bounce back, however, his playful and sparkling character quickly taking over.

However... he couldn’t help but rethink about what Little Flower (he quickly decided to call her simply Flower in his mind) had said when speaking of the status of hero. Why was she so pessimistic? What could have happened to her to be like that? And why had he not dreamed of the flower as usual? The petals of it were jet black and the leaves of a bright green, and it didn’t look like any flower that grew around the village. Puppy wondered if it was fine. For as long as he can remember... the flower had given him the impression of being... sick? In any case, in poor health. Sometimes... it gave him the impression of drooping down with exhaustion, as if it was forced to continue doing chores even though it was already tired. And those strange symbols that were engraved on the leaves... the Puppy had no idea what they meant (and yet he knew how to read, whatever the spiteful gossip might say), but something told him that they were responsible for the state of the flower.

And that made him angry. Because one didn’t have to be a genius to guess that if it continued... the flower might die one day. The puppy wanted to see the flower in full health. Because it was still beautiful, despite its unhealthy state of health. And if the symbols could disappear... he was sure it would be absolutely beautiful. A marvel to contemplate.

He growled angrily, thinking back to a dream he had made last year, just after entering the army program. The flower... he didn’t know what had happened to it, but the flower had started to... keen? In any case it had made cries of pain (and how much he felt that something really horrible had happened), and several petals had been torn, making the flower bleed. He still remembered his state of hot fury when he woke up. He had been the last to wake up, and had terrified the other occupants of the dormitory by waking up with a gleam of murder in his eyes. He was pretty certain that at least some had pissed themselves scared when he had sat up abruptly, snarling with rage, suddenly wide awake... and very upset. It was _ so little _ related to his character that all the other occupants of the dormitory had looked at him with wide, frightened eyes, only one brave enough to ask him if all was well. He could not help but growl that no, he wasn't alright, and that if he found the one that had made the flower bled, he would make him _ eat _ a sword through the ass!

The others had looked at him with a mixture of fear and incomprehension, especially seeing that his anger was not calming down... and that he was able to lift a sword almost as heavy as that of one of the commanders, _ destroying _with one sword slash the training dummies, to the point that they had to be put in the trash. Finally, his anger had subsided, and his natural character had taken over. But it still took weeks for them to stop looking at him with concern. The memory had stayed, and no one had dared to comment on the flower afterwards, especially seeing that it made the anger rise to the surface. Less violent than the first time, but enough so that everyone avoids the subject if they could. Tacitly agreeing that it was a taboo subject.

He joined the other occupants of his dormitory in the cafeteria, ignoring the jealous glances and murmurs behind his back with his usual enthusiasm. To be spotted by one of the Commanders was the dream of all the cadets (except for the pyroman, all preferred to avoid catching his attention, and by the same way the fireballs that he swung like confetti), and he had managed it in just a few weeks. He knew that the instructors were struggling to follow him, and yet he was doing his best. But he just couldn’t focus his attention for more than five minutes (his record was 8, and because he absolutely wanted to learn these kata with the sword), and yet it wasn’t for lack of trying.

Yet... when he had... shared? His energy with the flower... his concentration had improved. Not long, but he remembered that when he shared his energy... he was better able to concentrate. It hadn’t lasted more than a day or two, to the chagrin of his parents, but he remembered these episodes well. The problem... is that he never understood how to do it. And yet, he would have liked to continue. Not so much for him... as for the flower. He had the vague impression that it was going to need it. Impossible to know why, thought. And it gnawed at him vaguely, between two distracted thoughts.

With a sigh, he tried to focus on the lessons. But he could not take the flower (and Flower) out of his mind. Why did it seem so important to him?

oOo

Rose awoke with a start... and cursed again the alarm clock that had sounded in the middle of the dream. It was already the second time it happened! She sighed irritably, rubbing her face.

These dreams were really weird. Who could she be talking to? And above all, _ why _ four people? If it went on, she would end up in polygamy with those four. Or was it called polyandry? She wondered, frowning. She vaguely remembered reading something about it in her old life.

A sarcastic snort escaped her thinking about the Dursleys. For them, that would be a new proof of her "abnormality". Already they couldn’t stand seeing her in painting, she doubted they would hesitate to call her a whore if they came to learn that. Their opinion didn’t matter to her now, to be honest. Although it was difficult to overcome years of conditioning.

With a sigh, she got up, getting ready for the day ahead. She could barely wait until the year was over. She absolutely wanted to escape Dumbledork. Her mind belonged to her alone, and Rose already had enough of a madman who could potentially delve into her mind via their bond. She had enough to do like that!

“If I _ really _ were Slytherin's heir,” Rose muttered to herself, “I would ask Hogwarts to make sure that Dumbledork cannot realize I'm starting to get away from him. I still do not want to fire him, this old goat can still be useful, if only as a scarecrow against Voldy. I’d also like to get the Basilisk’s carcass, because I don’t want that old schnock fill his pockets the money from it after all, _ I’m _ the one who risked my life to kill it!”

oOo

Rose didn’t know it, but her words had been heard by the school. And to say that the latter wasn’t satisfied with the actions of her headmaster was to say that the ocean was wet. A euphemism of gargantuan proportion.

However... Hogwarts was also aware that Riddle, aka Voldemort, represented an even greater threat to children... even though the ever decreasing quality of education was also a problem for her. After all... the purpose of a school was to prepare children to join the working life. And there had been enough professors devoted to their profession to imbue this desire to learn and teach in the very walls of the castle.

The protection of the children, and even more of the heirs, was also something the Founders literally _ carved _ into the school, and in such a way that Dumbledore was unable to pull it out without incurring the wrath of the school. Oh, he did his best to weaken the protections (a blatant example was the troll two years ago, or the diary the year before), not to mention his refusal to let the school take care of the curse on the Defense post.

And the more time passed, the less Hogwarts was patient with his actions. The coup de grace had begun with Rose's arrival in the school. What the Sorting Hat had discovered in the child's mind... had been a source of fury for the building's conscience. Alas... she couldn’t act on her own. Security put in place by her creators... just in case. Even though Rose wasn’t aware of it... her words had activated a security set up by the Founders, in case the Headmaster would come to represent a threat to the students when there was an Heir present. If the Heir ever expressed concerns about their own safety, or that of the students, the school could take steps to correct that.

In this case, Rose having expressed concern for her own safety, Hogwarts was free to make Albus Dumbledore aware of nothing. And to use all the necessary methods for that. For the moment, she couldn’t do much, since he hadn’t yet made any hostile move towards Rose. But she could... curb the effect of the spells on Rose. Not to destroy them completely, alas, not without a request from Rose herself, but she could mitigate the effects. Also, she could refuse entry to the Chamber of Secrets to Dumbledore, no matter what he did. Only Rose could enter it now.

And the day Rose gives the green light to get rid of Dumbledore/Voldemort's curse... the gates of hell would open. And Hogwarts would _ enjoy _ ejecting the old goat out of his wards... not to mention denying him a portrait in the Headmaster's office. Minerva McGonagall would be a much better Headmistress... if she agreed to delegate some of her responsibilities.

_ To be continued… _


	2. Fragments of ice - part 1

Sephiroth woke with a sigh. Now... he no longer dreamed only of the flower. In his dreams... he was with a teenager, much younger than him, even if he didn’t know exactly what she looked like. The other dreams... were now... strange to say the least.

Two nights ago he was with the teenager. The night before... he had seen the flower again. Except that this time, it was bushes, which grew in the courtyard of an old type castle. And what was with that goat? He had outright summoned Masamune in his dream, threatening the goat that seemed to want to graze or crush fragile flowers in poor health. He had managed to push it away, determined to protect the bushes. On the other hand, he had been surprised to see that he had literally invoked his sword also in reality, when he had woken up.

Last night... the dream had been different. It had been... like remembering something. A memory so much more real than reality... that he didn’t realize the difference until he woke up.

In his dream/memory... he had walked in the courtyard of the castle, his arms struggling under the weight of a stack of books. Still, he could see they were not that thick, but it was as if he was weak. A girl was with him, and by Gaia, what was that hair?!? Even the puppy didn’t have his hair so bushy! Not in this style anyway!

The discussion made little sense to him, except that the "Defense" they were talking about didn’t really sound like what he knew. As in his dream with the girl... the names were scrambled, to his frustration. However, he could see that his interlocutor was clearly very intelligent... and was scolding the person he was watching the memory of, about their homework wrongly (not?) done. The answer was a bit tired, and in the lines of _ "the classes are finished, leave me in peace please" _, or something of the same kind. His attention was diverted from the discussion, however, when they met an old man on their way.

His robes (what the fuck was this) gave him a headache, the riot of colors almost causing him to cry (_ who _ put yellow and fluorescent green on a background of psychedelic blue???), and his snow-white beard was going down to his belt, easily. The hat was in the same colors as the robe... and was it him, or did the embroidery move?!? But what caught his attention the most was the old man's eyes. Bright blue, they twinkled brightly, and Sephiroth could see the slight smile on the ancient's lips as he watched them pass. He felt his body (the teenager's body?) stiffen, and he noticed that he/she was looking away to avoid crossing his eyes. The fine hair on his neck stood on end, and Sephiroth knew, without a doubt, that this old man was a threat. He may have been socially disabled... but he always had great instincts. And this old man... made them scream that he was dangerous. The shining of his eyes was not normal at all, and he felt that this guy was not what he seemed. He felt... wrong. As if wearing a mask of paternal benevolence. But the warrior saw clearly in his game. The mask had too many cracks for him.

And why did he make him think of the goat? Okay, they had the same bright blue eyes, but still!

Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair. Going to the kitchen, he poured the first of a long series of cups of coffee. His days started so early... and ended so late... tha he was forced to sleep very little. And at times... he wanted to kill everything. Especially seeing human stupidity in all its splendor with Palmer.

His mind was already in "_ General _" mode, but his position having more or less forced him to master multitasking, a small part still thought about his dreams. He had not told anyone about it, not even his two friends (the tension still hadn’t settled on the fact that Angeal decided to take an apprentice, Genesis obviously had a hard time accepting it), let alone to the crazy head of the scientific department. His mind... was the only place that had not been dissected in any way, and he meant to keep it that way. His dreams... had always been his personal secret, a meager source of comfort during the horrific experiences he was forced to undergo.

Now... he could communicate with someone in his dreams. He didn’t know her name, but... she treated him like a normal human. Not like a hero or a monster, which were the two ways he was usually treated. Only Angeal and Genesis behaved the same way as her... and Genesis seemed jealous of him. He struggled to understand why, though. He didn’t see how there was anything to be jealous of his life. Between Hojo and his experiments and the monstrous job he had to suffer with... honestly, he would rather be anonymous.

_ Speaking of the pyroman... we can see the flames _, he thought as he watched Genesis enter the kitchen, while he was re-serving himself another cup of coffee. He accepted the pancakes Angeal held out, the latter rolling his eyes before the childishness of his childhood friend, who was still sulking. Obviously, despite the fact that it has been several days since he announced his decision, the redhead was still struggling to digest it.

With a sigh, he hit him lightly in the back of the head, surprising him.

“Stop sulking, Genesis. You look like a child making a tantrum.”

“And how do you want me to take it?” Asked the redhead, becoming irritated.

“As an opportunity,” suggested Sephiroth, a little weary. “Beside, the Puppy could prove to be good at Materia too, right? Not just with swords. After all, we don’t really know where he's more gifted, right?”

Genesis blinked, obviously surprised, and Sephiroth rolled his eyes. Obviously he was so deep in his jealousy he hadn’t even thought of that. Shaking his head, the silverette resumed his breakfast. He noticed absently that the pancakes were red-fruited this morning. He preferred the chocolate one, personally, but it was a change.

A glance at the pile of paper beside his plate caused an eye twitch, and he suddenly decided that, failing to send everything flying as he had sometimes furiously wanted to do, he would accompany Angeal to look for the Puppy. Genesis seemed more thoughtful than anything else now, and Sephiroth hoped his words would have an effect on him. He didn’t want to lose one of his only friends.

Angeal stood up, catching his attention, and he looked at him, interested.

“Well, it's time for me to adopt the Puppy,” joked the big man, a slight smile on his lips, making his friends snort. “Gen, do you want to come?”

Seeing the enthusiastic glow in the eye of the redhead, the silverette grabbed him by the collar.

“_ No _ , Genesis, I'm _ still _ waiting for your report about our last mission. I know you still have time to do it before it's considered late, but the sooner you do it, the sooner you're released.”

Genesis blinked, quite surprised, having never seen things from this angle. Nodding, he rose reluctantly and walked to his office to do his report. He hated all paperwork that wasn’t related to the theater or Loveless. His reports were always made in time, however, even though he was nearing the deadline with this one.

Meanwhile, Sephiroth decided to take a look at the Puppy in question, quite intrigued. Angeal wasn’t one to waste time with someone who was hopeless, which meant that the kid had to have a lot of potential for catching his eye, even if it was still early. He had just entered the program after all. He took a mental note to ask Angeal why the boy had caught his attention, because it intrigued him to be honest.

A brief passage through his office saw him leave for the training grounds. Fortunately, this morning was apparently devoted to sword training, which meant he could hide behind an unstained window and not draw attention to himself, which was the goal. He wanted to avoid drawing attention to himself too soon, which would be counterproductive to his goal.

He had no trouble finding the kid once he arrived at his destination, his hyperactive side clearly distinguishing him from others. He tilted his head slightly to the side, intrigued. The boy, despite his over-excited side, seemed to be helping one of the other cadets, who seemed to be struggling with something. Mmmh, maybe a future leader, despite his apparent lack of attention. The others seemed in any case to respect and listen to him, more than the loudmouth approaching them.

The latter began by making fun of the Puppy, mocking his lack of attention among other things. The concerned ignored him completely, clearly focused on his companion. Finally, the boy who made fun of him grew tired, and changed his focus, focusing on the puppy's mate. Calling him by his name or first name (Kunzel, if he had heard correctly), he asked him if he didn’t want to come with him, he clearly had too much potential to hang out with such an idiot.

Kunzel only replied that he was not interested, making him flush with anger. Zack then turned, his expression still so happy, but... Sephiroth could see the warning light in his eyes. He realized immediately that eternally happy (or almost), didn’t mean stupid, quite the opposite. He put an arm around Kunzel's shoulders, totally relaxed, looking at him with a calm air, as if his opinion did not matter.

“Excuse me Davies, don’t you see that you're bothering my friend? I'm not sure you need a bigger head, you must already have trouble to pass the doors, I don’t want to add more.”

Zack said all of this in one go, and still with his big, happy smile, and yet, perfectly serious. He could almost ask this as if it were the next break, and Sephiroth couldn’t help snorting with amusement. His amusement was quickly gone, however, when "Davies", red with anger, threw his fist in the direction of Zack, clearly intending to hit him, without being really provoked. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, surprised at seeing the Puppy's reaction.

The latter, rather than take the hit, leaned back, dodging the blow easily. Releasing his friend, he turned, causing Davies to fall from a well-placed sweep, before throwing him to the ground, holding him with an arm behind his back effortlessly. He then kept him flat on the ground, even as the instructors headed towards them, shouting at them to stop fighting immediately. Sephiroth, however, was impressed by the Puppy's restraint. Instead of escalating the situation, unlike Davies, who had clearly intended to hit Zack, and perhaps even to pose as a victim, the Puppy had tried humor. And, when he had been attacked, had only immobilized his attacker.

Nodding, the silverette decided to intervene. Entering the room, his presence quickly attracted the attention of the instructors, who quickly turned to attention, suddenly very pale. Even the cadets turned pale, stepping out of his way, suddenly stiff. The only ones who seemed not to have noticed his presence were Davies, Zack, and the instructor now reprimanding them for fighting. Of course, Sephiroth was right, and Davies was trying to pretend to be the victim in the story, ignoring the discrete signs of Kunzel, who had spotted him. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow in his direction, and the younger Wutian featured boy stopped, swallowing nervously. The silverette wasn’t mad at him, though. The younger man made him think a little about Zack, more calm and focused, but with a good heart, if the respect he had seen from others was any indication.

Speaking, he watched the instructor and Davies freeze, before staring at him in surprise, and in the case of the younger, anxiety.

“Sergeant, I saw the confrontation. Cadet Fair here today showed no sign of hostility or aggression, unlike Davies.”

The sergeant nodded, a little pale. Davies was equally pale, and seemed to realize he was in trouble up to his neck, especially when Sephiroth spoke again.

“Cadet Fair was also selected by Commander Hewley to be his apprentice, which is why I came to watch him. I can see that, unlike Davies, he has the potential to be First Class. He is also obviously a born leader, and knows how to take the time to help his companions if they need it. I observed that his classmates respected him, and wouldn’t hesitate to follow him. In addition, he was able to show restraint when Cadet Davies attacked him without provocation. On the opposite, Cadet Davies presents the symptoms of someone arrogant, who prefers to be feared by his subordinates than appreciated, and who prefers to give orders while staying behind the lines. In addition, he is showing signs of an aspiring bully, and I think the cadets are aware of my opinion on those?” He asked, raising an eyebrow in their direction.

The other cadets nodded, pale and looking slightly relieved to see he wasn’t after them. Of course,_ everyone _ was aware of this rumor, which was even one of the first things they learned outside of class. General Sephiroth _ hated _ harassment more than anything else, and anyone he caught in the act was to pack his bags, for they ended up being dismissed from the army with dishonor, and could no longer hope to enter it again. The few cadets still standing near Davies moved away from him as if he had a contagious disease, clearly understanding that his time in the company was running out. Trying to protest did nothing to help your case either, and Davies was at least smart enough to realize it, because he stays silent, clenching his jaws. He couldn’t help glaring at Zack, however, visibly jealous that _ Commander Hewley _ had chosen him as an apprentice, and that _ General Sephiroth _ had decided to come and watch him... and even say his praise, something never seen before. It was well known that Sephiroth was sparing with his compliments in his Materia classes, giving very little.

The latter blinked in surprise, however, as he glanced at Zack. For a second or two, he could have sworn he saw dog ears on his head... and a tail that was furiously wagging behind him. They were transparent, and disappeared after a few seconds, so he decided it must have been due to his dreams. Shaking his head mentally, he turned when hearing Angeal enter. He raised an eyebrow at what was happening, and looked at Sephiroth, visibly perplexed.

“What happened ?”

Sephiroth was happy to summarize the altercation, watching Davies become more and more pale. Angeal shook his head with grief, looking at the Cadet.

“Cadet Davies... you know that the SOLDIER is the showcase of Shinra, is not it? As a result, candidates must be irreproachable. The fact that you show signs of a potential bully makes it only a matter of time before this happens. There is no honor in picking on weaker ones,” he remarked.

“Fair is not weak,” Davies grumbled softly, forgetting that their hearing was sharp enough to hear him.

"Him no," Angeal conceded. “But what would have happened if it had been someone else? And I guess you're not aware of what happened last year, not long after Zack Fair joined the program, right?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Davies shook his head, obviously confused and puzzled, while Zack looked extremely embarrassed. Sephiroth, in his case, was very interested. He had not really known what had happened, and hadn’t taken the time to look. Angeal spoke calmly, summarizing what had happened.

“Fair managed to wield one of the heaviest swords in the armory, and, for over an hour, destroyed several training dummies until they were irreparable. At the same time, in spite of his apparent anger, he didn’t go after his classmates. Would you have been able to do the same, Davies?”

The latter shook his head, visibly shocked and skeptical at the same time. He spoke again, his tone showing all his skepticism:

“Fair? Angry? He always has that moronic smile on his face!”

Angeal shook his head in response.

“Don’t we say to be wary of the sleeping water? Plus, Fair is clearly not stupid. His notes are excellent for someone who is struggling to concentrate. Of course, it is clear that a classical instruction is not adapted to him. An apprenticeship, on the other hand, will suit him much better. Sephiroth, your opinion?”

The latter nodded.

“I agree. He has potential for the sword, moreover, and perhaps also with the Materia, from what I have seen. Above all, he has a sense of fairness, which is necessary to become a good commander. He is just, and honorable enough. You, on the other hand... you would have ended up expelled from the army anyway. So don’t make your case worse.”

Zack clearly wanted to jump on the spot, and was holding back with a Herculean effort. His eyes were visibly glowing with enthusiasm, and Sephiroth was already feeling the weariness of just looking at him. Sniffing with irony, he looked at his friend.

“I have already spent enough time here. If I linger too much, I'll swim in the paperwork. Good luck with your Puppy,” he joked, patting the giant's shoulder. “You will need it.”

The latter let out a long and heavy sigh as Zack lost the battle against himself, and began to hop on the spot. Yes, he was going to have work. Amused, Sephiroth left, already reorganizing Angeal's schedule to allow him to take care of the Puppy. Of course, he would have something to say, but it would save him some work. The kid gave the impression that he was going to have to take care of him a lot. But the potential was there. He also seemed good enough with Materias, although he hadn’t had many lessons on the subject yet. He certainly wouldn’t be as amazing as Genesis on the subject, but he would probably be better than Angeal, that wasn’t in doubt. And most importantly, if he worked with Genesis, he might be less prone to jealousy than if he took all Angeal's time. At least he could always hope.

He finally arrived at his office, and let out a groan seeing the piles of papers on the desk. He barely exaggerated when saying that he risked swimming in paperwork if he was absent too long. Genesis tended to say that they were breeding... and sometimes he almost agreed with him. Better deal with it before there is too much.

The days continued to flow, his nights composed of dreams where he spoke with Fleur, or landscapes of her home... or the castle.

oOo

_ Sephiroth welcomed the dream with a certain pleasure. He enjoyed being able to talk to Flower (as she suggested he call her) from time to time. It wasn’t every night, though, but about one night out of four. The rest of the time, he dreamed of the castle and the bushes of flowers (and he was beginning to have enough of this goat trying to attack the flowers), or else, he saw clips of memories. Some made him confused, but he could see that Flower's life was not better than his. _

_ Speaking of the person concerned, he felt her sigh. _

_ “Bad year in prospect?” He asked gently, remembering what she had told him last time. _

_ “That's the least we can say,” she mumbled. “I did my research, so I should avoid being treated as a pariah, but I didn’t ask for all that bullshit.” _

_ “An idea of why?” _

_ "A crazy tournament that had been canceled because of too many deaths," grumbled Flower. “The last time it was held, the headmasters of the respective schools were injured, two of the hostages were seriously harmed by a beast that had escaped control, and one of the participants died. It was the last held, despite some attempts to revive it.” _

_ “How long was it?” _

_ “About two centuries for the last really held.” _

_ He frowned, puzzled. _

_ “And why is it held, if it's so dangerous?” _

_ Flower snorted sarcastically. _

_ “Oh, several reasons in my opinion. One is that the monster who's after my skin wants to recover a body, and he needs my blood for that, to get around the protection left by my mother. The other is that the old goat directing my school probably wants to get rid of me, because I'm supposed to die to defeat the nutcase who doesn’t want to die. Besides, he's after my money, from what I could learn.” _

_ Sephiroth blinked, surprised. _

_ “You are so rich?” He asked, puzzled. _

_ They had finally agreed, the last time they had seen each other, to be informal with each other, since it would seem that their bond wasn’t ready to stop. And none of them wanted it. Flower snorted with some bitterness. _

_ “Filthy rich, according to my bankers. I must be in the top 5 of the richest people in the country, magic or not. I cannot access most of the money at the moment, but just what I can access is huge.” _

_ Sephiroth clicked his tongue, disgusted. _

_ “Money seems to be the motive for many crimes, it seems.” _

_ He felt Flower shrugs her shoulders. _

_ “That and sex are the oldest reasons for crimes in the history of humanity. The tournament brings a nice sum of money to the winner... but I could lose that same sum of money without even realizing it, I'm that rich. And I don’t want the so-called eternal glory, I’m already famous enough. Also, I'm sure no one remembers the last winner of the tournament, or even which school he belonged to.” _

_ “And you think that you will probably be drag in it,” noticed the silverette. _

_ He felt her sigh again. _

_ “No probably, it's a certainty. I intend to expose a few flaws in the old goat plan, if I can. Even by just pointing out that a simple Age Limit will not be enough to prevent someone ill-intentioned to put my name in the Cup to make me participate against my will.” _

_ “And if that fails?” _

_ “Threaten to change schools. Oh, he will not let me do it, but it should make him panic enough to slack in his efforts.” _

_ “Hmm. I understand. And concerning the protection of your friends and yourself?” He asked with concern. _

_ Flower let out a sigh. _

_ “Normally... we are protected. And the reaction of my friend on hearing that there were compulsions to alter his judgment... let’s say that his explosive temper wasn’t only due to that, but also to the temper of his family. It just made things worse. At least, without that to stoke his jealousy... he is much more bearable.” _

_ “And your other friend? The genius?” _

_ “She's just as furious,” Flower admitted. “Because what he did to her... isolated her from the rest of our peers. She has always struggled to fit in, but last year, it was even worse, and she was on the verge of a burnout.” _

_ “And that servant you wanted to hire?” _

_ He felt her sigh again, leaning against him, as if to draw strength from his presence. _

_ “I told you she might take it wrong, didn’t I? I had to ask one of our friend's brothers to explain why his race _ needed _ to bond with people. She still doesn’t appreciate it, but at least I've been able to convince her to focus on improving their treatment rather than releasing them. It would be a massacre otherwise.” _

_ Sephiroth nodded. _

_ "She still has a good heart," he said softly. “You're lucky to have her as a friend.” _

_ He felt Flower nod. _

_ “Yes. Now that I know they are protected from outside influences, I am relieved. I don’t want the redhead to give me a fit of jealousy because I was entered in the tournament against my will. I don’t have any illusions, however. Being forced to participate... is a certainty.” _

_ “And if one ever try to rob you of the talisman?” _

_ He heard her chuckle softly, visibly amused. _

_ “If we don’t remove them of our own free will, by undoing the clasp… let’s say that the person trying to steal them will have a big surprise... not to mention that it won't be discreet _ at all _ .” _

_ An amused and vengeful smile appeared on his lips. She had a slightly vengeful and sadistic side that didn’t displease him, because it was directed against those who were at fault. The others, she left them alone unless they deserved her anger. But considering her life... many deserved her scorn. _

_ They continued to make plans to try to allow her to survive her year without much damage, but Flower had explained that she wanted to keep a low profile as much as possible. To show that she knew too much... was a sure way of seeing her memory erased. _

_ Sephiroth had noticed that her magic seemed quite different, but impossible to know much more. She could talk about it in broad outline, but not give details. In any case... it seemed at the same time more limited by certain aspects... and at the same time more versatile. Something told him that Genesis would love where she lived. But unlikely to access it, since, according to her, magic users were paranoid and did everything to hide. He would have liked to join her... if only to protect her from those who would wish her harm. _

_ Unfortunately, it was impossible, and he had to resolve to speak to her only in his dreams. It was always that, although he would have liked to be able to do more. She was one of the few people he considered friends... and he was fiercely protective of his few friends. If you wanted to hurt them... you'd have to pass over his dead body first. _

_ He finally sighed, realizing that it was time for him to wake up. The alarm would be ringing soon. Determining the time in the dream was possible, though delicate, and it wasn’t an exact science. Especially since he didn’t really want to wake up. He enjoyed talking with Flower, especially when he had a bad day in the labs. _

_ He had never heard her speak of any family, however, only people with whom she was living against her will and theirs. Moreover, they apparently didn’t treat her very well, even though, since her godfather had escaped from prison, they had calmed down. And at least now that she was at her friend's house, she was safe from them... but not from her friend's mother, who seemed determined to pair them together, despite the fact that neither of them agree. _

_ Reluctantly, he wished her good luck for his day, and concentrated on waking up. _

oOo

Sephiroth opened his eyes just in time to stop his alarm clock._ I'm getting better at this, _ he thought as he ran his hand through his hair. He wanted to spend as much time as possible with Flower, especially knowing the rotten life she was leading. Her’s might not be as rotten as his, though, he thought, frowning, mentally organizing his day. The Puppy didn’t fit in too badly, and his grades had made rather impressive progress now that Angel was taking care of him. The instructors were almost biting their fingers for dropping Zack so quickly, as Kunzel had said to the latter. Sephiroth resolved to keep an eye on the younger Wutainese. Partly because with the war against Wutai, the risks of bullying were magnified, and partly because he was started to shape as a seemingly reliable source of information. Sephiroth didn’t really want to know _ how _ he got his information, all he needed was that it was correct. And besides, he had potential. According to the instructors, who had conducted the preliminary tests for tolerance to the Mako, he could probably not climb higher than Second Class, but he could make a good commander for the Second and Third Classes.

Sephiroth regretted that the human body sometimes cannot tolerate more than a certain level of Mako in it. Kunzel was an example of those who had the potential to climb to the top of the ladder... but were physically unable to do so. Zack, on the other hand... the tests indicated that he could largely support the Mako levels needed to become 1st Class. Maybe even the levels of Angeal or Genesis. His own was just too far off the scale for another person to survive.

With a sigh, he prepared for the day. Genesis... seemed to have moderated his jealousy, he didn’t quite know why or how, but he wasn’t going to refuse a gift from heaven. Genesis... was amply bearable now that he seemed to have put a stop to his jealousy. At least a minimum, because he sometimes had uncontrollable bout of it, but it was already much better than before. He also sometimes seemed particularly pensive on certain days, and he remembered that Angel had asked him what was on his mind, one day when he seemed even more lost in thought than usual. The redhead had jumped, obviously drawn from his thoughts, and he had answered hesitantly:

“Is it wrong to want to be a hero?”

He had really seemed lost, and Sephiroth had been quite puzzled by the question. It reminded him vaguely of what Flower was talking about. When Angeal asked him why he was talking about this, Genesis hesitated, before replying that he had a penpal with whom he was talking about it. She didn’t seem to have a great opinion of the hero status, like Flower, Sephiroth had noticed. He didn’t seek details, however, respecting his friend's private life.

He himself didn’t want to talk about talking to someone in his dreams. It was a sure way to end in Hojo's hands... and he didn’t want that to anyone, not even his worst enemy.

Sephiroth closed his eyes with an exasperated sigh at some queries that landed on his desk. There were always some who asked him to reconsider his decision to dismiss their child/ brother/ cousin (non exhaustive list) of the army. His answers were always courteous (Genesis and Angeal had helped him a lot), but could be summed up in two words, "NO WAY". But every day he found at least one on his desk. Fortunately, they rarely insisted, and those who did it, generally high in the company, very rarely insisted more than once, because he came to pay them a personal visit. In general, he doesn’t hear about it after that... but maybe it was also because after the third time he thrust Masamune in their running computer without them having saved their work, they had understood the message and pass it on to others.

His patience had limits, and everyone in the company was more or less aware of them. Only the President and Hojo seemed to take pleasure in ignoring them, but they also knew that Sephiroth was the one who could veto the decision to keep a soldier or not, and allow him to climb the ladder. Sephiroth generally hated his position as General… but sometimes, there were good sides to it. Refusing a position of power to harassers was part of it. Few were able to stay hidden long enough to climb the ladder, because when Sephiroth caught them abusing their power, he sent them away immediately.

He shook his head at some requests. People seemed to think that it was enough to wait a few months for him to forget their actions, but Sephiroth kept a notebook in his office, on which he wrote down the names of all those whom he caught harassing, as well as what they had done to deserve such a dismissal. It was enough for him to flip through to find out what they had done, so they never had what they wanted. He would never have accepted it.

His mind thought briefly about Flower. From what she had told him, after what she had been through, she also hated the bullying with passion. She had vaguely told him about her obese cousin, who was bullying her with the blessing of his parents apparently. He and his gang had plagued her life until she entered her school, from the little she had agreed to tell him. She didn’t like talking about her past, he had noticed, just like himself. When he had remarked that to her in passing, she replied that she didn’t want pity from people. Sephiroth had told her she would never be entitled to it from him, but he respected her desire not to talk about it. He understood.

A slight smile spread across his lips as he thought of the nickname Flower had given him. Koori, which meant Ice apparently. It had honestly amused him, knowing that he had a preference for the ice element precisely.

Sephiroth plunged into the paperwork, trying to get it over before going to bed. Some days... he could almost do everything before going to sleep. But in the morning, it almost seemed that the papers... had breed. He wondered briefly if he should talk to Flower about it. It would probably make her laugh, imagine that paperwork was breeding. He didn’t like knowing her bitter like that. From his point of view... it really didn’t suit her.

The silverette entered the apartment he shared with Genesis and Angeal (and also Zack now), silently closing the door behind him, tired. He hated his work at times, but no one else wanted it. Angeal was doing his best to help him when he could... but he had his own responsibilities too, and now he had to deal with Zack too. And let's not talk about Genesis. The latter hated paperwork just as much as he did, whereas he had much less than Sephiroth.

He went to the kitchen, and lifted the bell that covered the snacks that Angeal always left for him when he finished. Sephiroth found Angeal's mother Chocoboing sometimes a little annoying... but in those moments... he was grateful to him. Chocobo's breast with caramelized Banora White smelled delicious, and he knew it would be even better hot... but he was too tired to warm it up.

He ate quickly, washing his plate before putting it in the drip tray, letting it dry on its own. Genesis had summarized it best, according to him: "Minerva invented evaporation, I don’t see why I would bother to dry the dishes!". Sephiroth snorted with amusement as he remembered that. His friend might have been raised by rich people, with servants who cared for him... but he didn’t hesitate to do certain things. He was banned from the kitchen, of course, being an inveterate pyroman, unable to cook anything without setting the kitchen on fire, but he was perfectly capable of doing the dishes or cleaning. Sephiroth briefly wondered if Flower knew how to cook. Perhaps. In any case, she couldn’t do worse than Genesis.

Shaking his head, he went to his room, stifling a yawn. It was almost midnight, and he was getting up in just six hours. At times... he dreamed of being able to sleep longer than that, especially when he was talking with Flower. The little she had told him about her life... worried him, to be honest. She never spoke of good things that happened to her, besides, and that made him angry for her. The best thing that had happened to her was apparently talking with him in their dreams.

Sephiroth sighed. He would like so much to be able to do something for her. Her life... had too many parallels with his own for him to be happy to leave things as they are. Especially what was waiting for her this year, obviously. A deadly tournament, to be treated as an outcast... and yet it seemed like the norm for her. But he didn’t like seeing her being so... jaded about questions of life and death. If he ever met the old goat who served as her headmaster... the latter would get to know Masamune from very, _ very _ closely. Especially if his answers didn’t please him, and he felt furiously that it was going to be the case.

Unfortunately, he felt that this night would be one of those he wouldn’t dream of Flower, but either from her past, or landscapes from her home (possibly). He sighed, slipping into bed. While letting sleep win, Sephiroth wondered again what Flower might look like... and if he could meet her one day.

oOo

_ Sephiroth tilted his head, honestly puzzled. What was this creature? _

_ Before him was grazing a small herd of snow-white creatures, vaguely resembling the mount of the Odin summon, but with only four legs. That or that lightning summon... what was its name, already? He let out an annoyed sigh as the name continued to escape him. The ears of one of the animals straightened up, as if he had heard him, and he raised his head, his eyes coming in his direction.The gray eyes of the animal rested on him... or, in any case, in the general direction of the place where he was. Sephiroth thanked Heaven for not really be there, at least not physically, because he couldn’t take his eyes off the long horn that was coming out of the animal's forehead. Straight and thin, it gave the impression of being able to disembowel a man easily. _

_ The animal moved slowly in his direction, ears erect, looking curious. The silverette stared at him, at once suspicious and amazed by the grace of the creature. The golden hooves landed almost noiselessly on the ground as the animal circled him, its nostrils opening slowly as he seemed to smell the air. Sephiroth felt his muscles unwind, almost unconsciously. As if... his aura soothed him. Gently, he raised his hand hesitantly, holding it out towards the animal. The beast recoiled, emitting a shrill and anxious sound. _

_ The silverette immediately withdrew his hand, a little sad despite not being able to touch it or approach it. The herd had raised their heads to the sound of a member of their group, and were now nervous, ready to flee. Sephiroth looked at them with a little sadness. He didn’t want to see them go, and at the same time he knew it was inevitable. Eventually, the animals calmed down enough so that some returned to grazing, but the one who had approached him remained nervous and uncomfortable. He had returned to mix with the herd, as if seeking the protection of his companions. Sephiroth blinked in amazement as he saw a group coming out of the edge of the forest. It was clear that they were the baby and young with them, the smallest of a beautiful golden color. Some were larger, and silvered except for the hooves, but had no horns, unlike the adults. Some had a horn bud on the forehead, more or less long depending on the individuals. _

_ Sephiroth spent the rest of the dream gazing at the herd, feeling more at peace than he had been in all his life. _

oOo

Sephiroth growled when his alarm went off, opening a glassy eye and glaring at the device with a menacing air. He managed to stop it without breaking it this time... even if it wasn’t the desire that hold him back.

Mumbling insults in his beard (nonexistent obviously), he got up, getting ready for the day. Some days... he wanted to destroy everything. And the cold showers… only worked for a while. He sighed, rubbing his face as the water ran down his skin, before throwing his hair back. Lowering his eyes, he fixed his eyes to his erection thoughtfully. The first time it happened... he had been particularly confused and a little worried. And to see that it wasn’t piss coming out... To go to the labs to know what was happening to him was out of the question, he spent enough time there like that. Fortunately, he had other ways to find out.

A tour on the network later, he knew that it was nothing abnormal, and that it was even quite natural. The whole problem was to take care of it. He didn’t take long to understand that the pornographic videos he found on the network were very far from reality (he wasn’t stupid to this point, or that socially disabled), but finding videos only about masturbation hadn’t been easy (and luckily he knew how to clear his history, he really didn’t want anyone to see what sites he had been on). Fortunately, he could find what he was looking for, although he still wondered _ why _ they did certain things in these videos. The idea of being restrained during the act gave him shivers, he had given enough with Hojo (and he thanked Minerva that Hojo wasn’t sexually attracted to him), and that didn’t interest him at all.

With a slight sigh, he resolved to take care of his erection. Ignoring it or calming it with a cold shower would only make matters worse, he knew from experience. He began to caress himself softly, barely touching the sensitive skin of his dick at first. He lets out a slight grunt as he felt the pleasure begin to rise, and leaned against the wall with one hand.

Sephiroth rarely took the time to masturbate for long, his duties taking up most of the day, but sometimes he wanted to make things last, like today. Slowly, he grazed his dick, shivering feeling the edge of pleasure that passed. He continued like this for a minute or two before deciding he wanted more. Closing his hand more firmly on his length, he let out a groan at the sensation, the excitement rising. Wanking more firmly, he continued the movements back and forth on his dick, gently touching his testicles, shivering at the sensation, and feeling the skin contract under his fingers.

Sephiroth felt the pleasure begin to really rise now, and he accelerated his gestures, panting. His left hand caressing his cock and the right, playing with his testicles, he felt that it was only a matter of time before the orgasm arrived. He didn’t really want to penetrate his ass with his fingers today, as it happened sometimes, and he preferred to keep it for next time.

Slowly, deliberately passed over his head, flicking its contours. It took only a few seconds of this stimulus to cum, and he closed his eyes, moaning in pleasure, feeling the orgasm through.

Finally, the pleasure fell, and he opened his eyes, panting. He let out a sigh, not really satisfied (he was never totally, alas), but enough for his erection to fall. Grabbing the showerhead, he quickly rinsed the wall and his lower abdomen. At least he had finished washing when he decided to masturbate.

Out of the shower, he grabbed a towel for his hair, before wrapping another around his body. His body under control again, he could now think of the day that was waiting for him... as loaded as usual, unfortunately.

Once in his office, he shook his head in despair seeing the piles of papers that invaded the surface. No, seriously, it was believable that the paperwork was _ breeding _! Grumbling in frustration, he went to work, trying to handle as many documents as possible before the lunch break.

oOo

Sephiroth welcomed the break with gratitude, he felt that his brain would melt in front of human stupidity. Between absurd queries (who ordered lavender scented toilet paper for the infantry??) or just six months late (like this request to renew the uniforms, it had been done at least 5 months ago, easily).

Massaging his temples, he left his office. Decidedly... he didn’t know who were the worst. The people of Gaia, or those whom Flower had to bear? He sighed. It must have been a constant, the administration was stupidly crass, no matter where. Walking quickly, he decided to eat as quickly as possible, wanting to return to take care of the paperwork before being overwhelmed.

Sephiroth was lost in thought, but he stopped when he entered the cafeteria, frowning. He could see a crowd in a corner, and, if he relied on his experience with the bullies, it meant that there was an aggression going on.

Somewhat annoyed, he strode along in that direction. He could see several cadets apparently trying to calm things down, if he trusted their attitude, but with no apparent effect. Some of them changed color as they saw him approaching, grabbing their companions who seemed to disagree with the bullies, pulling them out of his way. The others, visibly focused on their victim, didn’t pay attention to their environment, for their greatest misfortune. Sephiroth frowned, however, seeing that the victim was none other than Kunzel. Apparently, his sexual orientation seemed to be a problem, in addition to his origins. Personally, Sephiroth didn’t care. As long as he did his job properly, both of them were of little importance to him. Plus, he seemed to be a source of reliable information, and Sephiroth didn’t want to lose that.

The deep snarl that escaped him made everyone else freeze, and he saw that Kunzel seemed to be divided between worry and relief at seeing someone had finally decided to intervene. The bullies looked at him with big eyes, suddenly nervous. Sephiroth pointed at them coldly.

“You three... _ in my office. Now! _” He hissed, his eyes icy. “And stay there until I arrive. Understood?”

The three concerned swallowed nervously, frantically nodding their heads, and let go of Kunzel, literally fleeing the cafeteria in their haste to obey. Sephiroth looked at those who had tried to calm things down, slightly calmer.

“You, go get these idiots belongings. They will be out faster this way. Although take time to eat, if you haven’t done so already,” he ordered.

He wasn’t going to sacrifice his lunch break for these idiots! Well, if one could call it that. Considering the quality of the "cooking" they served... Sephiroth preferred Angeal's cooking by far, but he went on a mission with Genesis that very morning. So his choices were limited to takeout food (or delivery), or the cafeteria. But the takeout also meant he would eat in his office. As well take the cafeteria. At least he was changing scenery.

After his lunch break, he reluctantly returned to his office. The idea of handling the paperwork repulsed him, but he had bullies to fire. Obviously, either they weren’t aware of his disgust with these practices, or they had thought that they could get away with it. After all, his repugnance about crowds was well known within the company. Seeing him in the cafeteria was an exception that had to happen once or twice a month. And unfortunately for these idiots, they had chosen precisely the day that Sephiroth had decided that he needed a change of scenery to eat to attack Kunzel.

Returning to his office, he opened the door to find the three attackers standing in a corner, looking extremely nervous. He went to sit at his desk without a word, before looking at them with contempt.

“I had thought that my stance on harassment was clear. So can you explain to me why you thought it was a good idea to pick on Cadet Kunzel?” He asked coldly.

He listened to them babble excuses absolutely ridiculous (and yet he thought he has heard some nonsense from bullies before) a few moments, leaving them to sink even more, before cutting them sharply.

“Let me clarify things. Because Cadet Kunzel is of Wutan origin, and he is apparently homosexual, you thought he had nothing to do in SOLDIER, right?”

The leader swallowed, before nodding to confirm. Sephiroth shook his own, disgusted.

"As far as I can see, I am doing you a favor by sending you back from the program," he said, silencing them with a look when they seemed to want to protest. “As you have obviously not paid attention to the rumors and explanations, I will explain two or three things about SOLDIER. First, the program is open to all people in the country, regardless of whether their ancestors are from a country with which we are currently at war. Secondly... I guess you're not aware of the effects of the injections... or you didn’t want to believe it?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Seeing them move nervously, he realized that they had indeed had this explanation, but that they had chosen not to believe it. He snorted with contempt. Yes, he was doing them a great service by sending them away. Sephiroth spoke again, his tone still cold.

“The injections enhanced your strength significantly, from the very first. I lost count of the number of times we had to replace the door handles in the barracks of the Third Classes, _ despite _ the fact that they are specially reinforced. Can you imagine what would happen with an ordinary woman?” He asked, raising an eyebrow again.

He saw them exchange uncomfortable looks, seeming to begin to understand where he was coming from. But he was far from finished.

“In addition… the injections cause an increase in your libido in parallel with your strength. Basically, you will _ want _ and _ need _ sex regularly, and _ very _ regularly. Do you think you can master your new strength in less than a week?“ He asked coldly, staring at them without blinking. “Let me teach you something... It takes at least _ six months _ for that. Believe me, the maximum that anyone could hold without sex is a month, and he was at the end of his rope at the end. How do you think he did?”

He watched them exchange looks, enjoying seeing them squirm, uncomfortable, before delivering the coup de grace.

“He ended up having sex with other members of his group. Not because he was homosexual, or even partially attracted to men, but just because he _ needed _ sex, and masturbation was no longer enough for him. In addition, even your endurance increases. Even when you are able to control your strength… a normal woman will just not _ have _ your stamina. If you really want to be satisfied, you will have to turn to other men, because from what I have seen, you will need at least 4 to 5 orgasms to feel satisfaction. And I said _ at least _, because I speak only of Third Class. How much do you think it takes for those above?”

The three bullies had taken an interesting greenish hue on the edges, and none of them moved more than a hair, too terrified by his gaze, so similar to that of a great predator. Sephiroth, pleased to see that he had won his case, decided to stop their torment.

“The fact that you think that sex between men is unnatural is, frankly, an outdated view of sexuality from my point of view. It has been _ millennia _ since the merely reproductive nature of sex has lost its meaning. The pleasure has taken precedence, and we are no longer obliged to have sex only to conceive children. If you're stupid enough to keep thinking that, free to you, but you don’t have your place here. Your belongings should arrive any moment now, so you will give me the pleasure of taking them out of the building. And take this with you," he said, handing them the papers saying they had been fired from the army for harassment. “Now, get out. And I don’t want to see you in the army again.”

The three bullies took their papers without a word, and came out of his office with their heads bowed, defeated. Sephiroth let out a sigh, letting himself go against his backseat, rubbing his eyes with a touch of weariness. He still preferred to kill the problem in the bud, because if they managed to pass Third Classes, it was impossible to dismiss them, President Shinra refusing to "waste" SOLDIERS. And rectifying their behavior at this stage was long and difficult. Moreover… they always kept a share of arrogance in them, but they avoided to let most of it showed, knowing that he was in charge of assigning the missions, and that if they did too much, he could send them on the most stupid or boring missions possible. Or below their capacity.

Shaking his head, he resumed his work, signing the papers that needed it or destroying certain documents (he was certainly_ not _ going to send Third Classes for a Behemoth, they shouldn’t abuse it!), looking on his computer between some documents to search for the information he needed. Sephiroth worked for several hours, changing position on his chair from time to time, annoyed because he couldn’t find a comfortable position.

After a while, annoyed, he finally got up to check that there was nothing on the seat. He wouldn’t have been surprised if one of the Turks had put something on his chair as a joke, as it sometimes happens, but no. As he got up, however, he realized he had a _ new _ erection, and he sighed with annoyance. He had _ already _ taken care of it this morning! Apparently, today was one of those days when he had many in the day... and if he didn’t deal with it quickly, he wasn’t going to be able to concentrate, he thought with frustration, feeling his dick painfully restricted by his pants. Sephiroth rubbed his face with a growl of frustration. He really _ didn’t want _ to leave his office, but taking the risk of masturbating there was out of the question. Especially with all the people who might enter, sometimes without warning.

Strongly annoyed, he came out of his office, controlling himself just enough to not make the door explode in its frame by closing it, as it had sometimes happened to him. Glaring at everyone in his way, he was able to return to the apartment he shared with his friends without hindrance. With a sigh, he headed straight for the bathroom, knowing that it was at least easier to clean afterwards. He had tried once in his bed... and the feeling afterward in the sheets had disgusted him enough to not restart there.

Removing his clothes, he sighed almost with relief at the disappearance of the sensation of constriction. It feels good, frankly. Entering the shower, he decided to run the water anyway. Sometimes he went without, especially in the evening, but he appreciated the feeling of water flowing over his manhood. And never mind if he still had wet hair. Sephiroth let the water run for a moment, almost shivering as it cascaded over his erect dick, sending shivers of pleasure down his back. It wasn’t enough, however, and he felt the frustration return very quickly. It was nice, yes, but he needed _ more _. With an almost predatory growl, he closed his hand on his almost bursting dick, almost sighing with pleasure, feeling the pleasure going up at every touch of his hand. With the other, he massaged his testicles, moaning with pleasure by touching them more or less firmly, in rhythm with his strokes on his member. After a while, he decided that he wanted a little change, and the fingers of his right hand traveled to his back, and more precisely to his ass. He realized distractedly that this was probably the reason why he decided to run the water so that it could be used as a lubricant.

Closing his eyes, he breathed slowly, trying to relax, before gently sliding a finger into his privacy. He shuddered at the sensation of a foreign body in his hole, but didn’t stop. It was only uncomfortable for now, and he knew it wouldn’t last. Gently waving his finger, he relaxed the muscles enough to add a second. Panting, he groped to find the point that gave him pleasure, and let out a moan louder than the others when he finally found it. The position wasn’t really comfortable for his arm, but at that moment it didn’t matter to him. All he wanted was to reach orgasm. Accelerating his caresses and insisting on his pleasure, he felt the waves of pleasure rise more and more, threatening to spill over.

Finally, after stroking his dick and simultaneously pressing on his prostate, he let out a strangled cry as he came on the wall of the shower. Sephiroth continued to caress and stimulate his pleasure for a few more moments, until the cum stopped gushing. With a gasping sigh, he pulled out his fingers, shivering slightly at the vague feeling of emptiness that was taking place. Taking his soap, he quickly cleaned his right hand, before rinsing the wall and stopping the water.

Decidedly... he would give everything to get to feel satisfied after masturbating, he thought as he came out of the shower to dry himself. Because even if he managed to take care of his erection... it always came back too quickly for his taste.

His body calmed, at least for the moment, he began to think about what he had to do. What was happening on Flower's side... worried him, to be honest. And he unfortunately shared her pessimism about the fact that she will be entered into the tournament against her will. Seriously, it was hard to believe that people were too cowardly (he agreed on this point) to want to defend themselves against their enemies. And what kind of school headmaster put his own students in danger?!?

oOo

The weeks passed horribly slowly, until the judge (supposedly impartial) of the tournament had to select the representatives of the schools for the "competition".

Unsurprisingly, Flower was selected. He had spoken with her the night after the selection, and she had told him everything, especially how the old goat had tried to stop her when she swore she hadn’t entered her name in this bloody competition. At least she was pretty sure the schools believed her, even though she had also sworn in front of the true champions.

Now the problem would be to survive the three Tasks that were waiting for her... and the one she apprehended most was the first, with dragons! But what _ stupid morons _ were sending _ children _ to face a fucking _ dragon _ ! Even _ Hojo _ wasn’t that crazy! And they only had their wands to cast spells! Flower had snickered at hearing him insult the idiots running the tournament before telling him that one of them had taken a few hits to the head in his sporting career. He must have some brain damage. Sephiroth couldn’t help but retort, sarcastically " _ a little too much _!" to that. Flower had nodded, before explaining that she had a plan... which, she hoped, would work. She added, however, embarrassed, that with her luck, the plan was likely to end up in the trash in the first five minutes of the task.

Sephiroth had agonized himself for the duration of the supposed task, especially knowing that dreams were conducted according to a specific pattern, and he didn’t control when he spoke with Flower. His relief when he could finally talk to her again was certainly palpable by her, for she thanked him for having worried about her in the next dream.

She sounded completely slammed and stressed, and he couldn’t help but worry about her. With a long and heavy sigh, she had explained to him that for some reason, the fireballs she had used against the dragon had turned an unusual color, a light green like the spell that had cost her her parents. Of course, some had decided that she was turning Dark, just because it was the color of the Necromancer Fire, an obscure and forbidden branch of magic. Appropriately, they preferred to ignore that one of their most famous wizards could use it, according to her genius friend. She had to swear _ again _ on her life and her magic that she had no idea what had happened. Because, really, she didn’t understand. When she trained, her fireballs had a classic orange color, which sometimes turned blue, with so hot they were. Not this time. And the mother dragon took only three fireballs before submitting, whimpering in terror, to everyone's surprise. Not to mention that she had _ given _ her the golden egg she was supposed to get to win the task!

Flower hadn’t complained, anyway. She had escaped without a scratch, and she had what she was supposed to get. She didn’t give a fuck about the points given, however. She had other problems. The good news, she told him, was that the next one would be underwater. And normally, everything should be fine.

Normally. Neither Flower nor Sephiroth wanted to tempt fate by saying anything. The silverette let out a sigh as he thought about it. The next "test" she faced was a ball. Sephiroth hated balls with a passion, President Shinra was always using him as a Poster Boy, displaying him against his will in these events, happily ignoring the fact that Sephiroth was already overwhelmed with work in normal times, he was almost literally swimming in the paperwork after these events. Not to mention his sexual frustration which also was acting up, forcing him to masturbate several times after the company’s balls until he calms down. He didn’t realize it consciously, however, but his subconscious was yearning for the presence of his soul mate. Sephiroth would have probably scoffed with contempt if he had been told that. But he couldn’t have denied the feeling that he was missing something. It was less important with his friends and Zack, but he felt that something was missing. Like a puzzle that would miss a central and vital piece.

Sephiroth let out a sigh as he went to bed. Flower had explained to him that she had finally found a partner to go to the ball, or rather two. He snickered, thinking about that. Twins, the brothers of one of her friends, had offered to go with her to the ball, when learning that she was still looking for someone after the captain of their sports team declined. And she agreed, half to give the finger to the tournament (she was after all an involuntary participant), half because they were probably the only ones that wouldn’t brag to have been with her at the ball, or pretend she had sex with them.

Sephiroth frowned as he remembered her reaction at that moment. There was... like a darkening of the flower field. As if the mention of sex had brought back bad memories. He hadn’t insisted, however, feeling that it was something sensitive and painful for her. Flower had vaguely told him about the twins, explaining that they were inveterate pranksters, and he groaned at that. Reno split, hell on earth. She had laughed when she heard his reaction, despite the blocked name, before explaining to him that she had made an agreement with them: they behaved seriously and like gentlemen all evening, and she would give them money plus a whole collection of books about pranks and jokes they didn’t have.

Sephiroth snorted with amusement, thinking back to that. At least she knew how to control them. Reno... the only one who managed to control him was Tseng. And, sometimes, Veld. Otherwise, Rude sometimes manage to prevent him from doing stupid things, but most of the time (especially if explosions were involved), he participated.

Chuckling softly, shaking his head, he extinguished the light, lying under the covers. Closing his eyes, Sephiroth slumped into sleep, wondering what he would see tonight, for he knew it wasn’t one of the nights he would talk with Flower.

oOo

_ The silverette tilted his head to the side, astonished and puzzled. _

_ The room he was in was huge, enough to accommodate a large part of SOLDIER and still have room. Numerous decorations were everywhere, especially garlands of mistletoe and ivy, and the walls were covered with silver frost. Sephiroth wondered how were they not melting, before mentally shrugging his shoulders. Magic, as Flower would have said. There were a hundred or so tables in the room, each with a dozen seats, from what he could see. _

_ People were on either side of him, but he couldn’t see who they were. However, he suspected that they must be the twins, as Flower had told him. Not controlling where he looked was a bit annoying for him, but as he was apparently seeing a memory, it didn’t surprise him more than that. Flower looked all around her, visibly fascinated by the decorations, and he heard her say to her partners: _

_ “It's a shame they don’t do this every year,” she said softly. “It's really pretty. I'd be fine not dancing, though,” she added irritably. _

_ The boy on his right sniffed with amusement. _

_ “You forget that ********** tries to reduce expenses to a minimum, ****. I wonder what he's doing with the money he saves.” _

_ On the other side, his twin chuckled. _

_ “Don’t forget that there is a teacher who is a ghost. It's a whole salary that he doesn’t have to pay.” _

_ Flower snorted sarcastically. _

_ “Money he's probably putting in his ugly robes. Seriously, I would need a headache potion at a minimum every time I see him.” _

_ Her partners burst out laughing as they approached one of the round tables, to which a redhead was also sitting. The latter pulled a chair beside him, looking at Flower with a telling look, and Sephiroth felt her nod in response, understanding the unspoken message. Her partner on the right added, sounding more serious: _

_ “By the way, ****, thank you for saving *****. You didn’t have to give us that much money, though.” _

_ Flower snorted with some bitterness. _

_ "Did you know that the old goat tried to proclaim the carcass for himself? I'm sure you would never have seen a knut of the sale. I killed that horror, I have the right to decide what I do with the carcass! Especially since it almost killed me,” she grumbled. “By right of conquest, since I killed it, it's _ me _ who decides what to do with the body! Nobody else!” _

_ “You're spiteful,” noticed her left partner. _

_ “I have the right to be,” she replied darkly. “If I told you everything... you would understand why.” _

_ The conversation broke off as they reach the table, which mysteriously contained 14 seats instead of the twelve of the other tables, much to Sephiroth's perplexity. Flower sat next to the redhead, who cast a disapproving look towards her partners. The silverette then noticed that most people were doing the same, more or less openly even, like the old man who sat a little further or the one with a goatee next to a grumpy teenager, accompanied by a very pretty girl, at least as beautiful as the one with the long silvery blond hair, who was accompanied by a boy who seemed to have disconnected his brain, if he judged by the dumb expression he wore. Sephiroth could admit she was beautiful, nothing to say against that. But personally, she didn’t attract him. The redhead spoke, drawing his attention again: _

_ “****, ******, I hope you will stay well behaved during this evening. ****, why did you invite them both? One was not enough for you?” _

_ Flower snorted sarcastically. _

_ “First, *****, it is them who offered me to be my partners, not the opposite. Second, I had a choice between them and morons who wanted to take advantage of my "reputation". Honestly, if the Reaper himself had appeared to take me to the ball, I would have accepted. And they at least will not boast of having slept with me, as about 50% of the guys at school would have done. I am aware of the rumors, *****. 90% of what goes around me in school is false... and the remaining 10% is distorted. In addition, if they behave, they will be entitled to a collection of Muggle pranks and jokes... hu? What the…” _

_ He felt something pass over him, like a comforting aura, before concentrating on his head, as if to form something, while Flower's body stiffened under the effect of surprise. He heard the surprised whispers of her partners as she raised her hand, running it through her hair and finding something hanging on her locks. She brought her hand before her eyes... holding a simple flower of delicate beauty. Sephiroth felt his breath freeze on seeing it... because it was the flower he had been dreaming of since childhood… except that this one was in perfect health. The petals were jet black, shining softly under the candlelights. The smooth stem was dressed in shiny silver, the likes that Sephiroth had never seen before, forming a delicate brooch in the shape of leaves. He could almost feel Flower's perplexity at the appearance of the flower, and he felt her partners leaned over her shoulder, obviously just as perplexed as her. _

_ “****, where does this flower come from?” _

_ "Good question, because I'm sure I didn't put anything in my hair before coming," she mumbled. “****, ****** ... I warn you right now, if this is one of your jokes... you can say goodbye to your collection of books.” _

_ “We would never do that!” Protested the left twin. _

_ “We gave you our word that we would behave like gentlemen, we will!” Confirmed the second. _

_ The boy seated at the table shook his head, his official air already beginning to grate on Sephiroth's nerves. He reminded him of some of the members of the company, those who boasted of being in the higher echelons. _

_ "You should not encourage them, ****," he said as she put the flower back in her hair. _

_ "And what are you doing here, brother dear?” Asked the twin, who sat next to Flower. _

_ “I am now Mr ******'s personal assistant and he has asked me to represent him.” _

_ “Why didn’t he come himself?” Flower asked, her tone bored. _

_ Sephiroth could perfectly understand her. He hated those kind of people who gave themselves airs when they were barely competent or even incompetent. The latter let out a sigh, pulling Sephiroth's nerves raw with his official air. _

_ “I'm sorry to have to say it, but since the World Cup, Mr ****** doesn’t feel good, not at all. Which is not surprising - overwork. He is no longer so young - though still brilliant, that goes without saying. His spirit hasn’t lost any of its depth, but the World Cup has been a fiasco for the entire ministry and…” _

_ Sephiroth quickly turned a deaf ear to the boy's words, his speech sounding particularly uninteresting, and his quick assessment of the boy was right. He must have been only a few years older than Flower or his brothers (who themselves must have been a little older than her), but he already felt that he was ambitious and desperate to climb the hierarchy. Sephiroth knew his kind, and he couldn’t stand them. To hear him, one would have thought that he had been elected supreme leader of the universe. Sephiroth would have been happy to bash his ideas if he had been there, but unfortunately he couldn’t do anything. _

_ In front of Flower was a golden plate, and Sephiroth wondered if the tournament organizers had brought them themselves, or if they belonged to the school. He doubted this second point, on the other hand, because he didn’t remember having seen these plates in Flower's memories. He saw the old man with a long white beard seize a menu, and examine it carefully, before addressing his plate aloud: _

_ “Pork chops!” _

_ And, to Sephiroth's biggest surprise, a meat instantly appeared on his plate. Following his example, the other guests took their menus and began to order. Flower's gaze landed briefly on the other champions, and Sephiroth mentally blinked in amazement, realizing that the girl who accompanied the grumpy-faced boy was none other than Flower's friend, the one who was a genius. By the Goddess, she had changed a lot. Sephiroth knew that just like Flower, she wasn’t interested at all in beauty products or clothes in normal times. Obviously, she had made an effort for the ball, but Sephiroth could understand that she wasn’t doing so normally, it must have taken a lot of time and energy to smooth her mane. He wondered, however, what Flower would look like in her dress. Something told him... she must be very beautiful. _

_ He quickly ignored what the other champions were saying (the foreign boy apparently touting the merits of his school), more interested in what Flower was going to order. He heard her whispering something about frog legs, and he couldn’t hold back a disgusted grimace in his mind. Just the Touch me were disgusting enough like that, but he knew, from what Zack had said, that in small towns, people were not necessarily reluctant to eat the monsters if there was no other choice (even if Zack avoided the Touch me as much as possible, too many bad experiences). And he had to admit that after a while on the fields, soldiers were ready to eat monsters or anything that didn’t come out of a bag of rations. And there was always at least one or two in the unit who knew how to prepare the monsters safely. _

_ After a moment Flower decided for a dish whose name he couldn’t understand. Even as the dish in question (a kind of soup) appeared, the plate itself changed shape to look like a soup bowl, surprising Sephiroth. On the other hand, why was the old goat talking about chamber pots at the table, damn it? It didn’t have any place in this kind of discussion, anyway! Even he knew it! He felt Flower stifle a snicker into her bowl, especially when he saw the man with the goatee outraged face. The blonde, however, didn’t stop complaining. And this on the decorations, and that on the ghosts. _ But will she shut up! _ Thought the silverette, exasperated. Her partner seemed totally out of touch with reality, too busy looking at her apparently, so much so that he couldn’t seem to find his mouth with his fork. It half amused Sephiroth, while exasperating him. There were still limits to decency, even for him. _

_ Flower glanced around her, just as uninterested by others' speeches, and her eyes fell on another table a little further away... where was the tallest man he had ever seen, at least as tall as the woman sitting at their table, Sephiroth suddenly realized when Flower's gaze was returning to her as she answered the sign of the hand he had made. They were even bigger than Angeal! And yet, he was already approaching two meters! They... had to be more than three meters! On the other side, Flower's friend seemed to be teaching how to say something to her partner (maybe her name?), And the latter seemed to be doing his best, but not getting it right, if he trusted the "Not bad" she pronounced in Flower’s direction, with a small smile. _

_ Finally, the meal was over, and the old man with the white beard (he decided to call him Old Goat in his head), stood up and asked the students to do the same. What he did next surprised the silverette, because with a simple wave of his hand he had the tables on the side of the room. Another gesture brought up a platform with musical instruments, and a group of people (probably the group playing the music) rushed onto the stage, seizing the instruments and starting to play. Sephiroth quickly noticed that the lanterns around had gone out, and that the other champions had risen, accompanied by their partners. He felt Flower sigh wearily, visibly unenthusiastic at the thought of dancing, but reluctantly rising up all the same. He could understand her. _

_ Shaking his head mentally, he looked at Flowe's partners. As she had said, they were identical twins, but he could still see small differences in their faces, helping to differentiate them. Both of them were now rather serious, and obviously with very good manners, bowing before Flower to greet her. One of them then took her to the dance floor, obviously guiding her steps. The music was actually quite slow and melancholy, but not unpleasant, Sephiroth found. The group was quite good, although not really in his tastes. He still noticed that Flower seemed to avoid looking around as much as possible, preferring instead to contemplate the ceiling... or the absence of a ceiling? Thought the silverette, perplexed and thoughtful, seeing the cloudy sky instead of a stone vault. He finally remembered that she had told him that the ceiling of the Great Hall, where students and teachers took meals, was enchanted to mimic the sky outside. _

_ He felt Flower's body gradually relaxed as her partner slowly turned her, respectful of her space despite the position needed to waltz, changing with his twin at one time, surprising her slightly if he trusted the startled shiver of her body. His brother, however, remained just as respectful of her, making sure he didn’t make her more uncomfortable than she already was. She continued to look at the ceiling until the improvised dance floor was filled by the other students, and she could relax completely. Sephiroth took advantage of every opportunity she looked around to memorize the faces, even though he knew it was of little use. He saw a redhead girl looking like the twins at one point, grimacing regularly while dancing with her partner, a slightly chubby boy (maybe because he was crushing her feet). A little later, he saw the old goat dancing with the huge woman, and how much Sephiroth wanted to snickers at seeing them, he was so small compared to her that the tip of his hat just reached her chin! _

_ On the other hand, the man who passed near Flower made Sephiroth’s hackles raise. For because both of the wooden leg and the bright blue eye that was spinning in the man's orbit of his scarred face, as if a Behemoth had chewed on him before spitting him out. But something in his attitude set him on edge. What, he didn’t know, but he felt Flower stiffen too, despite the fact that she kindly replied to his comment on her socks. She answered the anxious question of her partner of the moment (the first twin) by something sounding very much like a platitude (the fact that his eye makes her uncomfortable), even for Sephiroth. _

_ Finally, the piece of music ended, and the twin with whom she was with gently led her to the chairs, on which she sat down with a sigh of relief. His brother arrived a few moments later, a drink in hand, and she accepted it with gratitude. Shortly after, two girls arrived, and after exchanging a few friendly words with Flower, took the twins with them to go dancing. _

_ Sephiroth realized that just like him, Flower was quite happy to stay watching the dancers. In addition, the different origins of the students added diversity to the student population, which fascinated Sephiroth. He would have been willing to watch them all night, but the dream came to an end. _

oOo

Sephiroth opened a glassy eye, and grunted as he realized he had to get up. He hated balls with passion... but yet... he would have liked to participate in this one, if only to accompany Flower. Nevertheless, the twins had been very correct with her, he thought with some appreciation as he got up, following his usual routine. They had treated her with respect and politeness, respecting her desire to not do more than one dance. Flower... didn’t deserve to suffer all this, he thought angrily. Her life... made him think a lot about his. They were used and exhibited as objects, without consideration for their well-being, and thrown on the battlefield much too young.

He sighed, preparing his first cup of coffee. Why did unscrupulous bastards send children to battle? He wondered as he rolled his hot cup between his hands, thoughtfully. He had talked a bit with Flower about it, and she had told him about child soldiers, and the emotional and psychological consequences it had on them. And he had to admit... that it corresponded to a certain number of his character traits. Sephiroth shook his head slowly, his long hair gently waving in his back as it moved. Being aware of it didn’t necessarily mean being able to get rid of it overnight, he told himself, refilling the cup, before heading to his secondary office. With the work he had, he was regularly obliged to bring files back to the apartment, and work on it early in the morning when getting up.

Flower might not have as much work as he did, he thought in a corner of his mind between two files, with still being in school, but from what she said, the "_ adventures _” she had at school more than made up for it. Her first year was a good example, he remembered, pursing his lips. He still remembered the dream he had made, showing the end of the year, about which she had vaguely spoken.

It had been so real, to live it through her eyes... and it had horribly reminded him of his own experiences. He was only a little older when he had killed for the first time... and again he had not received any help. No more than she. Yet she would have needed it too.

oOo

_ The giant three-headed dog had nearly gave him a heart attack, before leaving him open-mouthed (mentally of course) when it fell asleep at the first notes of a flute (horribly badly played, but apparently it didn’t matter), the three children taking advantage of that to open the hatch and jump into the hole, landing on something soft, which had turned out to be a plant. But the fact that it had nearly strangled Flower and her friends had not reassured him (one would have almost said it was the Malboro’s cousin, he had thought when waking up, shaken), and what happened next didn’t arrange things. The flying keys with the broom had almost amused him... until they went crazy when Flower had apparently grabbed the right one... on the back of a flying broom. _

_ He had shaken his head at that. It was so cliché that it was ridiculous... but, obviously, it was effective. The next room had a giant chessboard. The redhead had touched one of the pieces, causing its activation, and, after asking him whether they had to play to cross, had placed himself, Flower and their friend in place of three of the pieces, before starting to play. Sephiroth had admired the game with interest. The redhead was really, really good. Oh, he would have been able to play some moves differently, and he was pretty sure he could have found another way than to sacrifice himself to allow Flower to checkmate, but he had done well. _

_ The next room, on the other hand... the smell made him want to throw up so horribly, and even when he woke up he was still nauseated. The thing lying on the floor was hideous, but fortunately the creature was completely unconscious, a bloody bump adorning its head. Flower and her friend had pulled up their robes to try to smother the smell, and Sephiroth was glad he hadn’t been there, he probably would have fainted because of the stench. Even Flower was nauseated, he could feel it. _

_ The next room... seemed almost banal compared to the previous ones... until colored flames appeared in front and behind, blocking the exits. In front of them was a black fire, and behind, the flames were purple. In the room was a table, on which were placed seven bottles of different shapes and a roll of parchment. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at the poem, quite impressed by the logic. And snickered at Genius words. Wizards, lacking logic? He had to admit that she was right. Besides, now that he was thinking back to what Flower had told him... that was exactly it. He remembered shaking his head, impressed by the intelligence of Flower's friend, who had found the solution to the poem at the same time as him. _

_ Unfortunately for Flower, only one of them could go forward, the amount of potion remaining in the bottle just enough for one person. After encouraging Flower, her friend took the potion allowing her to go back, and Flower the one to move forward. Despite the fact that he felt her tremble from stress, she stepped forward without hesitation. Her surprise at seeing the man in front of her told him that she was obviously expecting to find someone else. The man snapped his fingers quickly, tying her up without a word, obviously taking advantage of the fact that she was distracted by their discussion. _

_ Sephiroth frowned as he heard him talk about what he had done. He couldn’t understand the name of the creature in the other room, but he would have brought one into a school full of defenseless kids?!? What was this guy’s problem? The concerned turned around at that moment, studying the mirror eagerly. The object was huge, at least as big as Angeal, and sported symbols (a writing?) at the top. And what stone did he speak off? Sephiroth could hear the capital letter in the name, as if it were a particularly important object, even if he didn’t understand why. It wasn’t like it was a Materia! _

_ Flower tried to distract him, doing her best, without effect. The silverette was particularly frustrated, because he had only a small part of the context, and therefore lacked most of the elements needed to effectively analyze the conversation. And the blocked names didn’t help at all. Flower finally fell to the ground with a grunt, having visibly tried to move (to look in the mirror, but why?), completely ignored by the man in the turban. Finally, the man exclaimed with frustration: _

_ “How does this mirror work? What’s its secret? Help me, master!” _

_ Sephiroth, horrified, heard a voice respond to him and the voice seemed to come from the man himself. But what the... _

_ “Use the girl... Use the girl…” _

_ The man turned to Flower. _

_ “Right. ******, come here.” _

_ He clapped his hands and the ropes tying Flower fell immediately to the ground, the little girl getting up slowly. _

_ "Come here," he repeated. “Look in the mirror and tell me what you see there.” _

_ Flower approached him. Sephiroth could feel her shaking with fear and stress, but she was bravely moving forward. Finally, she found herself next to him, and if he had been in his own body, the silverette would have stiffened. The smell that emanated from the man looked atrociously like a rotting body. But his movements were too fluid for him to suffer from gangrene… not to mention that he looked physically healthy. Flower took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, struggling against a nauseated reflex, before taking a step forward and opening her eyelids. _

_ Sephiroth felt frustration rising as he realized he still couldn’t see what she looked like... although she had certainly changed a lot since then. The reflection of the mirror... gave him the impression of looking through a pan of frosted glass. He could distinguish the general shape of Flower's body, as well as the colors, but not the details. Or, at least, not all. A mane of hair going in every direction making him think of Fair’s, and bright green eyes were the only things he could roughly distinguish. He frowned, seeing that Flower's reflection seemed... to smile at herself? Before putting her hand in her pocket, pulling out an object of medium size, bright red. Her reflection gave a wink, before putting her hand back in her pocket. Sephiroth was stunned as he felt something heavy appear in Flower's pocket, as if, somehow, the object had come out of the mirror and had become real! _

_ “So?” The man said impatiently. “What do you see?” _

_ Flower gave Sephiroth the impression of gathering all her courage. _

_ "I see myself shaking hands with **********," she said. “I... I won the cup for **********.” _

_ The man cursed again. _

_ “Move,” he says. _

_ As she moved away from the mirror, Sephiroth felt the stone bang against Flower's leg. Was she going to try to escape? But Flower had hardly taken a few steps that a shrill voice spoke while the man hadn’t opened his mouth. _

_ "She's lying... She's lying..." the voice said. _

_ "******, come back here," he shouted. “And tell me the truth! What did you see?” _

_ The high voice rose again. _

_ “Let me talk to her face to face.” _

_ "Master, you don’t have enough strength," said the turban wearing professor. _

_ “I have enough for that…” _

_ Sephiroth wanted to take Flower away from him at that moment. She was clearly petrified with terror, and if he didn’t understood what was happening... he felt something bad coming. After all... she had said that her parents’ murderer had possessed one of her teachers in her first year. Was it... was it him? In any case, he felt that she could no longer stir a single muscle. Petrified, she watched the professor raises his arms and start undoing his turban. Soon the turban fell and the man's head suddenly looked strangely small. Then he turned on his heels. _

_ And there, Sephiroth would have liked to be able to scream his disgust. Behind the man's head, instead of his skull, there was a face, the most disgusting face that Sephiroth had ever seen. It was chalky white with flaming red eyes and slits like nostrils, like the head of a snake. _

_ “**** ******…” murmured the face. _

_ Sephiroth felt Flower try to take a step back, but her legs refused to obey her. _

_ “Do you see what I've become?” Said the face. “Shadow and vapor... I take shape only by sharing the body of someone else... Fortunately, there are still some who are ready to welcome me in their hearts and their heads... The blood of ****** gave me strength, these last weeks... In the forest, you saw my faithful ******** drink for me... And when I have the elixir of life, I will be able to recreate a body that will be good for me... Now... Give me this stone that is in your pocket.” _

_ So he knew. Sephiroth suddenly felt Flower's legs come back to life. She took a step back. _

_ “Don’t be stupid,” said the face angrily. “You better save your life and join me... Or, you will know the same fate as your parents... They died begging me to give them mercy…” _

_ “LIAR!” cried Flower. _

_ The silverette could feel that Flower had tears in her eyes, of sorrow, anger or terror, he would have been unable to say. Maybe all three at once, he wouldn’t have been surprised. The man backup towards her so that the face didn’t lose sight of her. The evil face was smiling now. _

_ “How moving…” he hissed. “I always appreciate courage... Yes, my girl, your parents were courageous... I first killed your father and he resisted me with great bravery... As for your mother, I hadn’t planned for her to die... but she was trying to protect you... So, give me the Stone. Otherwise, she will be dead in vain.” _

_ “NEVER!” _

_ Flower leapt to the inflamed door, trying to flee. Sephiroth was nauseated in front of the scene. Which psycho could rejoice in killing parents in front of their child? A child so young that she was unable to defend herself? _

_ “Catch her!” shouted the face. _

_ With a gesture, the man grasped Flower's wrist. She immediately felt a sharp pain in her scar. The poor girl had no doubt felt that her head was going to split in two, and Sephiroth was feeling the pain as if it were his own. The girl screamed, struggling with all her strength, and, to the surprise of Sephiroth, her assailant let go. Suddenly her head hurt less, but the man, on the other hand, was bent in half by pain, his eyes fixed on his fingers, which were covered with visible blisters, as if burned by a flame. _

_ “Catch her! CATCH HER!” Repeated the shrill voice of the parasite. _

_ Again, the possessed man dived on Flower. He made her fall to the ground and immobilized her by crushing her under him, both hands clasped around her neck. The scar became so painful that Sephiroth could see that Flower was almost blinded. She managed, however, to distinguish the face of the man who screamed. He seemed to be suffering a terrible pain. If he had been there... Sephiroth would have gutted him without hesitation. What kind of bastard was attacking a child? He almost felt a vengeful pleasure to see him suffer every time he tried to touch Flower. _

_ The fight was so unbalanced despite everything that it made him sick for Flower. An 11-year-old, with barely a year of training behind her, against an adult wizard? The only thing that seemed to save her was the fact that her assailant couldn’t touch her without suffering excruciating burns. Sephiroth could see it when he dropped her, keeping her on the floor only with his knees. He had looked at his hands in disbelief, they were burned at least to the third degree, the flesh raw. The parasite then ordered him to kill Flower with his shrill voice, and this one, as if by reflex, put her hands on the man's face, tearing him a howl of pain and making him fall to the ground, rolling himself to the ground in pain. _

_ Flower seemed to have also realized that he couldn’t touch her without suffering tremendous pain, for she jumped up and grabbed his arm without hesitation, making him yell in pain again. Sephiroth now had trouble distinguishing what was happening, so much was the pain, blinding. All he could perceive was the pain, the cries of the man and the parasite, and a voice that seemed to call Flower. _

_ He suddenly felt that Flower was letting go, or that the arm to which she clung was torn from her, and fell into unconsciousness. _

oOo

Sephiroth let out a curse when he accidentally broke his cup. He was so angry because of the memory that he had forgotten to control his strength. Sighing in annoyance, he got up and went to clean up the pieces. At least he had finished his coffee _ before _ breaking the mug. After throwing the pieces in the trash and refilling a cup of coffee, he returned to his papers, part of his mind continuing to think about the dream/memory.

Flower... was apparently unconscious for three days after that event. And when she woke up... the Old Goat hadn’t offered her any answers. He had just explained to her that her mother's protection prevented the terrorist who had murdered her parents from touching her. On the other hand... to tell her why he wanted her... nothing at all. And yet, she had asked. But he had refused to tell her, pretending she was too young to know. _ My ass! _ Sephiroth thought angrily. When someone wanted your hide at such a young age, you had the right to know! The rest of the conversation had given him some answers, even though the blocked names had prevented him from fully grasping the situation.

With a sigh, he ran his hand through his hair, annoyed, especially when he saw the time. He would soon have to go to his office, and he had already lost his breakfast time. Sephiroth resolved to take Angeal's pancakes to the office if he wanted to finish his breakfast... because of the quantities they had to eat, he couldn’t finish on time.

He stood up, his mind still thinking of what had happened to Flower. The poor girl… she didn’t even have anyone to talk to about the fact that she had apparently been forced to kill a man. No, instead, she had been sent back to the people she was living with. And he remembered that she had almost begged to not be sent back there, without effect.

_ Why _ did he insist that she live there anyway? He wondered, frowning as he sat down at the table, nodding to the others. The Puppy's welcome was as enthusiastic as usual, snatching him an almost invisible smile. The cheerful and friendly character of the boy often cheered him up, especially when he was thinking of such things. Sephiroth sighed very softly.

If only he could do something for Flower...

oOo

The silverette ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He had become accustomed to eating more regularly in the cafeteria to kill bullying situations in the bud, at least there. The whole problem was that the food was awful, and with the quantities needed for his metabolism... let's say that even the food served at Flower's school seemed appetizing to him, and yet he found it too fat for his taste, from what he saw.

Sephiroth leaned against the windowsill with a tired sigh. His gaze was lost on Midgar... or, at least, the little he could see with the fog of pollution. Flower... had at least been able to solve the enigma of the golden egg, from what she had told him. The tournament organizers would take someone precious, and she would have an hour to get them back. Fortunately, she told him, she knew how to reach them, and also, from what she knew, they were in no danger... in any case, three of them at least. From what Flower knew... one of the participants wasn’t completely human, and the problem was that if this non-human blood had given her some advantage in the first task facing the dragons, protecting her from fire, this same advantage was turned into a handicap once under water. And that wasn’t counting the fact that the sister of this same participant would be used as a hostage. The problem was that the girl would be in serious danger of death because of the freezing temperature of the water, plus the fact that it was winter.

Sephiroth was getting more and more angry with the organizers of this "_ tournament _ ". Not content with forcing a minor to participate, they put the life of a little girl in danger! Even though they _ knew _ that because of her ancestors, the icy water posed a threat to her! Shaking his head angrily, he walked away from the window. Really, if he could find a way to meet Flower one day... he would have two words to say to the organizers of this thing.

Striding away, he was unaware that his words had made icy chill rise in the backs of some people, including Dumbledore and Barty Crouch Jr, who posed as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. As if someone had walked on their grave.

_ To be continued… _

_ First chapter finished o/ However, it became so long that I preferred to cut it in two XD It had reached 70 pages and was far from finished. Hence the "Part 1". _

_ As for the scenes in the shower... thank you for being lenient, this is the first time I do that.( _ ** _was also my first time translating smut - Dragonqueen909_ ** _ ) _

_ The next chapter? The second and third tasks of course! As well as some insight on Seph side _


	3. Fragments of ice part 2

_ Sephiroth frowned at the dream. It was once again a memory... and it obviously concerned the Second Task. Flower stood before a stretch of smooth water, shivering in the freezing cold of February. The other champions were next to her, and he could hear the enthusiastic voices of the students echoing on the surface of the water. He looked at the man dressed in a ridiculous yellow-and-black striped robe, his belly stretching the fabric seriously, making him snort with contempt. It was clear that he had more than slightly let himself go, he told himself. The latter arranged the champions about three meters apart, paying special attention to Flower, who replied in a pinched tone that she knew very well what she had to do. _

_ Ignoring the other champions, who had rushed into the water at the whistle, Flower quickly removed her shoes and socks, before placing a ball of slimy herbs (and Seph couldn’t stop a disgusted hiccup, they looked like tails of entangled rats) in her mouth and start chewing, advancing at the same time in the icy water. The lake was so cold that it seemed like the skin of Flower's legs was burning. As she progressed, her wet robe weighed more and more heavily. The water was now over her knee and her numb feet were sliding on flat stones covered with mud and silt. Flower was still chewing the plant, which had a viscous, rubbery consistency, like octopus tentacles. Sephiroth was at least relieved to feel that the plant had almost no taste. Submerged up to the waist in the icy water, she stopped, swallowed, and waited for something to happen. _

_ Sephiroth would have gladly strangled the idiot who had decided that a task would take place in _ winter _ in a lake! It was a really good way to have one of them catch pneumonia! He could hear the students laughing as Flower trembled from cold in the icy water. Yes, he definitely had two words to say to the one who organized this! Half-immersed, a dreadfully icy breeze ruffling her hair, Flower trembled from head to toe. She avoided looking in the direction of the stands. The laughter was louder and louder, some whistling and jeering at her… _

_ Then, suddenly, he had the impression that an invisible pillow was being applied to her mouth and nose. Flower tried to catch her breath, but her efforts made her dizzy. Her lungs were empty and she suddenly felt a flash of pain on either side of her neck. _

_ Flower lifted her hands to her throat and Sephiroth felt under her ears two large slits whose edges pulsated in the cold breeze... She now had... gills?!? Without hesitating for a moment, she threw herself into the lake. For a minute, Sephiroth panicked completely. He didn’t know how to swim himself, and he was totally unaware if this was the case for Flower. He thrashed around mentally because of the panic, and it took him some time to realize that Flower knew how to swim. _

_ The first gulp of icy water seemed like a breath of life. His head stopped spinning. She took another long sip of water that he felt coming out gently through her gills sending oxygen to the brain. When she held out her hands in front of her, he noticed that they had taken a greenish, ghostly hue, and that her fingers were webbed. Turning her head, he saw that her feet were now longer and that her toes, too, were webbed. It looked like she grew fins. _

_ The water had ceased to be icy... On the contrary, it seemed pleasantly fresh and light... Flower continued to move forward, and Sephiroth was almost amazed at the speed at which her fin-shaped feet propelled her into the water. He also noticed that she could see clearly around her without needing to blink. Soon she swam so far that he couldn’t see the bottom of the lake. Flower then shifted vertically and sank into the depths. _

_ The silence grew thicker as he discovered a strange and dark landscape shrouded in mist. Now its visibility was diminished, and as Flower advanced, new outlines appeared in the darkness: real forests of aquatic plants slowly undulating, large expanses of mud littered with stones glimmering dimly in the dim light. She descended farther and farther to the heart of the lake, peering into its gray and disturbing depths, clearly trying to unravel the mystery of its shadows, where the water became opaque. Obviously, while she had a clear idea of where she should go, she wasn’t totally sure either. _

_ Small fish swam around Flower like silver darts. Twice, he thought he saw something bigger move a little further but when Flower approached, he found only a large piece of blackened wood and a particularly dense entanglement of aquatic plants. There was no trace of the other champions, nor of a mermen, nor of her friend. Nothing but the silence of the depths, which honestly began to stress him. _

_ Pale green grasses, about fifty centimeters in height, stretched before her, as far as his eye could see, like a lush meadow. Eyes wide open, Flower was clearly trying to distinguish forms in the darkness, if he judged by the way she looked around... but suddenly, he felt something grab her ankle. _

_ Flower turned around and Sephiroth saw a being he had never seen before, a kind of little water demon with little horns that had just popped out of the grass. Its long fingers were tightly wrapped around her leg, and it showed its sharp teeth. Flower slid her webbed hand into her pocket, looking for her wand. When she finally managed to grab it, two other water demons had sprung up from the grass and clung to her robe, trying to drag her to the bottom. _

_ A big bubble escaped from her lips at the incantation, which Sephiroth couldn’t hear, and the wand cast something on the demons that looked like a jet of boiling water, because red spots appeared on their green skin, like enraged boils. Without hesitation, Flower tore her ankle from the creature embrace and swam as fast as she could, regularly sending more jets of boiling water over her shoulder, not bothering to aim. From time to time, he felt a demon grab her ankle again and she kicked in response to get rid of it. Finally, he felt her foot touch a horned head; Flower turned around briefly and Sephiroth could see a stunned demon drifting in zigzag, its eyes dazed, while its fellows creature threatened Flower with shaking fists before disappearing again among the grasses. _

_ Flower slowed her pace a bit, put her wand in her pocket and looked around her, her ears alert, doing a complete circle in the water. Seeking clearly to orient herself. A heavy silence oppressed his numb eardrums. He knew she had to be even deeper, but nothing was moving, except for the slowly waving aquatic grasses. He would have loved to guide her and protect her under water... even if water was different from ice, Sephiroth felt in his element. _

_ “So it works?” _

_ Sephiroth thought he was going to have a heart attack. Where did this voice come from? Flower was under water! At least thirty meters deep, if not more! Flower swung around suddenly and found herself face to face with the fuzzy silhouette of a... ghost? Who floated before her, looking at her through her thick glasses, shining like pearls. But what... what was she doing here? Sephiroth felt Flower try to speak, but this time again only a very big bubble came out of her mouth. _

_ The ghost, on the other hand, managed to giggle. Obviously, since she was only a spirit, she was no longer bound by the laws of physics. _

_ “You should try there!” She said pointing her finger. “I prefer not to come with you, I don’t like them very much. They always swim after me when I approach…” _

_ Flower raised her thumb to thank and followed the direction, taking care to clearly swim up above the grass to avoid the demons hiding there. Sephiroth just had more and more violent desires for murder. What was that idea, frankly? _

_ Finally, a good twenty minutes later, Sephiroth began to hear voices singing, and he felt Flower sigh with relief. She finally approached her goal, as evidenced by the big rock covered with engravings of fish-men... and was it a giant octopus that was engraved next to it? Rough stone buildings began to appear on all sides in the dim light, their walls covered with seaweed. Sephiroth blinked, surprised, half cursing Flower's vision, inferior to his despite the effect of the plant she had swallowed. Because either he was dreaming... literally in this case... or he was seeing faces in the dark frame of the windows. These beings had gray skin and long, shaggy hair of a dark green color. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore large cords made of pebbles around their necks. They glared at Flower as she passed, and one or two of them came out of their lairs to take a closer look, with a spear in their hand, their powerful silvery fish tails beating the water forcefully. _

_ Flower swam even faster in reaction, and soon stone shelters became more and more numerous. Some were surrounded by gardens of aquatic plants and he even saw a small water demon tamed, tied to a stake, like a dog in front of a door. The water beings were coming out from all sides, now. They were watching avidly, showing her webbed hands and gills and were exchanging remarks at her passing, hand over their mouth. Flower accelerated the pace, ignoring them, and a very strange spectacle presented itself to her eyes and to those of Sephiroth by proxy. _

_ A real crowd was gathered in front of the buildings which delimited a sort of central place of the aquatic village. A chorus of water beings sang in the middle of the square, inviting the champions to come closer. Behind the choir, roughly carved in a block of rock, stood a gigantic statue representing one of these creatures. Four people were firmly attached to the fish tail of the statue. _

_ Sephiroth narrowed his eyes as he saw the show. Decidedly... we felt that they had decided to go for the spectacular side, without any consideration for the health of the hostages. A show for the champions, he told himself. According to Flower, the spectators froze their asses off at the surface to contemplate the lake, without having any idea what was going on underneath. Decidedly, Flower was right. Wizards had exchanged common sense to have magic. He had the proof before him. _

_ Flower’s red-haired friend was tied up between the genius (maybe he should call her Scholar?) and another girl, the one who had accompanied one of the champions at the ball (maybe his girlfriend?). The last person was a child, and he could see the resemblance to the haughty champion at the ball. Her long, silver-blond hair floated around her, and just like the others, a thin stream of bubbles escaped her lips. They didn’t seem to be drowning, and Sephiroth felt it was due to the spell that allowed them to sleep underwater. _

_ Flower took out her wand again, and he saw the tip of the wand describe movements (probably casting a spell if he trusted the bubbles coming out of Flower's mouth), directed at the girl. His vision was briefly masked by bubbles as she seemed to swear furiously at the displayed results, and that Sephiroth couldn’t understand, to his frustration, but there was no need to know how to read the language to know that the red was not good at all. The teenager put her wand in her pocket, pulling out a multi-blade knife instead. Selecting one blade in particular, she began sawing the braided seaweeds that held the hostages. These ones were rather thick and slimy, and Sephiroth could imagine her disgust at the sensation. He himself had shivers on contact. _

_ She took a long time to slice the seaweed rope, and he felt her sigh with relief as her friend floated, drifting slightly into the water. Sephiroth noticed that she was looking around, obviously looking for traces of the other champions. They had not arrived yet, which began to worry the silverette. What were they doing? More bubbles came out of Flower's mouth, giving the impression that she swore. She then swam towards the other hostages, especially the little girl, who was clearly in the most danger. Sephiroth could see that her skin was abnormally pale, much more than she should have. _

_ Flower had barely tackled the bonds holding the little girl when strong gray-skinned hands grabbed her away from the hostages. They laughed loudly at Flower struggling, visibly angry, shaking her head. _

_ “You take your own prisoner,” said one of them, “and you leave the others…” _

_ “Certainly not!” Flower replied furiously, but only two big bubbles came out of her mouth. _

_ Sephiroth could more or less hear what she was saying, though, and he wondered how it was possible. Well, he dreamed of what she had lived, so there wasn’t much that surprised him at this point... not even the crass stupidity of wizards. _

_ “You have a mission to free your friend... The others, you leave them…” _

_ Flower emitted like a groan, which resulted in a series of bubbles. _

_ "This child is in danger of death," Flower said angrily, pointing to the girl. “Water is _ NOT _ her element!” _

_ Her words came out of her mouth in the form of big bubbles, but obviously they had no trouble understanding it, for they continued to laugh for the most part, one sniffing scornfully. _

_ “How can the death of a fire girl matter to us?” He asked, exposing his yellowish, broken teeth. _

_ He felt Flower narrowing her eyes, certainly as furious as he was. She looked down at her watch, probably to see how much time was left, but it had stopped. A new bubble came out of Flower's mouth, certainly containing a curse, but Sephiroth didn’t understand it. _

_ Suddenly, the water beings pointed their finger above her, looking excited. _

_ Flower looked up, and Sephiroth saw a boy swimming toward them. He had around his head a huge bubble that strangely enlarged his face by deforming his features. He blinked at seeing that. Decidedly... he went from surprises to surprises with the magic of Flower’s land. He was even beginning to expect everything now. _

_ “I got lost!” _

_ No sound came out of his mouth, but Sephiroth could read on his lips. The boy looked panicked. _

_ “****** and ***** are coming!” _

_ Sephiroth could imagine Flower's immense relief at seeing that. He watched as the boy with the bubble took a knife out of his pocket, sliced the rope that held his imprisoned girlfriend, then took her away and disappeared into the darkness of the lake. _

_ Where were the other two? There wasn’t much time left, and if we believed the lyrics of the song, after an hour, the prisoners would be lost… _

_ Abruptly, the water beings began to shriek. Those who held Flower loosen their grip, looking over their shoulders. She turned around and saw a monstrous creature swimming straight over them: it had a human body dressed in a swimsuit and a shark's head... It was probably the grumpy boy he had seen at the ball. Apparently, he had tried to metamorphose himself but had not done very well. Sephiroth still preferred to be touched by Frog. At least he didn’t look that ridiculous... even though it was apparently effective. _

_ The shark-man swam right to Scholar, and began to gnaw at the rope that tied her to the statue. But the boy's new teeth were not very practical for biting something smaller than a dolphin and Sephiroth wondered if he was going to end up cutting the poor girl with them. Flower rushed towards them, and gave a big blow to the boy's shoulder, handing him the knife. The boy grabbed it and began cutting the rope. He did it in a few seconds, grabbed Scholar by the waist, releasing the knife that Flower barely recovered, and, without looking back, quickly pulled her up to the surface. _

_ And now? Sephiroth wondered. Where was the little girl's sister? There was still no sign of her. We had to do something, and quickly, because the more time passes... the more she looked bad. Fortunately, Flower had the same opinion as him, as she swam towards the girl, but the water beings advanced towards her and surrounded her friend and the girl shaking their heads. _

_ Flower raised her wand angrily. No need to know her thoughts to know that. _

_ “Leave!” _

_ This time again, only bubbles came out of her mouth, but Sephiroth had the distinct impression that the water beings had understood it, because they suddenly stopped laughing. Their yellowish eyes fixed on her wand, they seemed to be afraid. They were certainly much more numerous than she, but Sephiroth guessed, from the expression of their faces, that they knew no more about magic than the giant octopus. _

_ “I'm counting to three!” Flower shouted. _

_ Only big bubbles came out of her mouth, but it caught the attention of the fish-men, who suddenly stared at something behind her, now terrified. Flower blinked, and glanced behind her, obviously puzzled. There was absolutely nothing behind her back, but judging by the speed at which they moved away from her, it was as if the Reaper himself had been at her back. Flower obviously did not ask any questions, and started sawing the rope holding the girl back, the fish-men standing as far from her as possible. _

_ Once the kid was released, Flower plunged her hand into her pocket again, taking out a strange object, almost resembling a kind of little yellow and gray bundle. At the touch of her wand, the object swelled instantly to a size of about 70 centimeters. She put her wand in her pocket, and took out a rope, using it to tie her friend and the little girl to her. Flower then grabbed a small rope on the gray side (Sephiroth realizing at that moment that it was a gas cylinder) and yanked it over. A hissing noise muffled by the water rose instantly, and she clung to a rope running on the side of the object. _

_ Sephiroth didn’t take long to understand why she had done this: the gas was inflating a lifeboat, and, by the flotation effect, made them rise to the surface much faster than if she had had to swim by dragging them behind her. Flower helped the phenomenon by waving her legs, accelerating their ascent. She ignored the fish-men that circled around them, swimming fearfully from a distance, but with a grace she could never hope to match. _

_ Sephiroth realized abruptly that she was starting to have trouble breathing, and a glance at her webbed hands told him that the webbing had begun to shrink, indicating that the effect of the plant was coming to an end. Despite knowing he was just seeing a memory, he couldn’t help but encourage her. The silverette could see that the water was becoming clearer, and he felt a deep sense of relief as he realized that the surface was near. _

_ Finally, Flower's head broke the surface right next to the inflatable boat, and she breathed deeply, her relief palpable. At the end of the ascent, she had managed to flip the boat around, so that it is in the right side now. With a grunt of effort, she pulled the little girl out of the water, the latter waking with a start and immediately starting to panic. Flower gently calmed her with a few words that he didn’t understand, before helping her climb into the boat. _

_ She then took care of her friend, who yelled at her, realizing she had stayed down to help someone else, insisting they weren’t in danger... before insulting the organizers on hearing that the girl was in danger of death because of her bloodline. Flower helped him climb on the boat, and climb up herself with some difficulty, and helped by her friend. With an incantation, she removed the water that was at the bottom, before making them dry and almost warm. She then tapped the float next to her, whispering something. Obviously, it was to make it move forward, because the boat then began to slide on the water’s surface, pulling giggles of joy from the little girl. Sephiroth almost wanted to smile when he saw that. _

_ He frowned, though, seeing the students' reaction on the stands. There was a deafening tumult, as if they had thought the two hostages had died under water. Sephiroth snorted with contempt. An hour earlier, they treated Flower like shit. And now, they cheered for her? _

_ Sephiroth could see that a real welcome committee was waiting for them at the shore. The old goat, the giant woman, the little girl's sister (the giant had all the trouble in the world to hold her back, the latter was obviously sick with anxiety for her sister, even though he hardly understood anything about what she was saying), a woman who was dressed in a nurse's uniform that had easily been out of place for half a century, the redhead he had seen at the ball, and who looked extremely pale, and finally the asshole clad in his yellow and black robe. Sephiroth blinked, trying to keep count of the redheads. There was the kid he'd seen at the ball, Flower's friend (Chessmaster, that could be a good nickname), the twins, and him. It was already five children, and that was if there wasn’t more. He felt pity for their mother, especially with the twins. _

_ The inflatable boat touched the shore, and Flower rose wearily, helping the little girl to disembark. The redhead rushed to his brother, pulling him towards the nurse, ignoring his protests. The sister finally managed to break free and rushed to her little sister, hugging her half crying, and babbling thanks to Flower, explaining that she had been attacked by the water demons, forcing her to give up. _

_ Flower assured her that it was nothing, sweeping her thanks with a wave of the hand, before turning to the judges, icy. She then proceeded to flog them verbally, furiously, asking in the name of the ancient gods why they had thought fit to place a descendant of non-humans (and the frustration that Sephiroth felt by not being able to understand the name of the breed in question may have become a habit, it didn’t make it less annoying) under the icy water for a prolonged period of time. Old Goat tried to pretend that they had taken every precaution to ensure that nothing happened to the hostages, and Flower called him a senile cretin, leaving the people around her speechless. _

_ Sephiroth noticed with astonishment that the judges had become very pale during her furious speech, backing up instinctively. Even the champion looked at Flower with an expression of mixed gratitude, fear and misunderstanding. Chessmaster was also looking at her with big eyes, from what he could see from the corner of his eye. Finally, after reminding them that some people could have non-human blood in their veins, and that this could be a danger to them in certain circumstances, and that if she hadn’t taken the girl out so quickly, she would probably be dead or disabled for life until the fish-men took her out of the water (if they had accepted), she calmed down and allowed the nurse to look after her, wrapping her in a particularly tight blanket and making her drink something horribly spicy, and Sephiroth almost burst out laughing (despite his own anger) when he saw that there was steam coming out of her ears. _

_ He noticed that the Old Goat was squatting on the edge of the water, obviously speaking with one of the fishmen, if he trusted the high-pitched cries he was making. The latter spoke almost frantically, seeming to want to convince the Old Goat of something. He didn’t seem to believe it, however, which didn’t surprise Sephiroth. The old man hit him as an arrogant man who listened to no one, and used others as pawns. From what Flower had told him, if he compared her life to a chess match with her in the queen's position... all of the Old Goat's movements had left her exposed and vulnerable, depending on a few carefully chosen people to get the information she needed. She was like a bait thrown into the water to attract a shark. Kept alive because she would attract it faster like that, but destined to be sacrificed. _

_ Flower exchanged a few words with the other champions and Scholar, before the dream stopped, just after the points had been given. Sephiroth would have had two words to say to the moron with a goatee, because he was clearly biased, giving the maximum score to his champion and the minimum to Flower. All because she had used non-magical means to get to the surface! He would have liked to hear Flower's scathing reply, he was sure he would have laughed. _

oOo

Sephiroth opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. Now... there was only one Task left in the Tournament. Flower... had let him know that the terrorist who murdered her parents was waiting for her at the end of it, just to recover his body. She didn’t want to let him do it, but to be able to kill him, she explained, she needed him to get back into shape and especially to do certain things. Letting him kill people was repugnant to her, but she didn’t want him to suspect that she knew too much about him, and most importantly, to take her seriously. He was underestimating Flower for the moment, and he knew she wanted him to continue to be that way. He probably suspected she knew things, but not as much as she really knew.

With a sigh, he got up. He had to fight against the desire to destroy everything around him, knowing that it wouldn’t help Flower. Not that far away. How could he help her from a distance?

He would have really given anything to be able to join her and leave the labs behind him. Even if there were idiots out there too, they weren’t worse than here... well, it depended on things.

Once again, the weeks passed slowly. Two months might seem short, but with all that Flower was under, it gave him the impression that time was running much slower than it should. Moreover, one of the judges (supposedly sick apparently) had made an apparition in the middle of the evening, looking completely mad, stammering that he had to go to see the Old Goat for a moment, and thinking himself at his office the next. Unfortunately, Flower hadn’t managed to save him (not that she liked him more than that, but she wanted to disrupt as much as possible the plans of her enemy and the Old Goat), and he had disappeared again (killed, apparently by his own son, who posed as the current defense professor). On the other hand, she laughed when he gave her the nickname he had chosen for her headmaster. It was quite appropriate, she said, especially knowing that his brother was apparently caught in a compromising position... with goats. Sephiroth hadn’t wanted to know more, making her laugh even more.

Other than that, she had been in contact with her godfather, who was worried about her, but was unable to do anything, being a wanted criminal. She was also training hard for the Third Task, trying to be as prepared as possible to face her enemy. But her dreams of her enemy's actions didn’t reassure her. To see him torturing someone, even if he was the traitor who sold her parents, just wasn’t nice. Sephiroth had asked, worried, if there was no way to block the connection. Flower had sighed, before explaining that it wasn’t possible, alas. The amulet only allowed to protect from direct mental attacks, or compulsions intended to alter their behavior. This... connection she had with her parents’ killer was very different, and, for obvious reasons, she refused to talk about it, even in dreams. It was also one way, at least she was pretty sure of it, from him to her. Her bankers (and how much he was surprised to know that her bankers could do a lot of things, as long as she paid the price) were still looking for a sure way to break the connection... but that wasn’t a case won yet. There were rituals, of course, but they were designed for objects, not living things, and her chances of surviving were at best of 30%.

Both had agreed that these rituals would be used as a last resort, if she exhausted all other solutions. For the moment... she was going with what she had. The trials she had reported to him, on the other hand, had made him frown. The wizards seemed so straight out of the Middle Ages that he wouldn’t have been surprised that they still believe that torture was a reliable way to obtain information. He would have happily told them that was bullshit... but not to said they would listen to him. Flower had let out a bitter laugh when he said that, before telling him that they were easily a century behind Muggles, or non-wizards, while being sure of being superior to them, especially the most inbred. At least her own family had the intelligence to regularly add new blood to their lineage.

Flower was getting more and more stressed as the last task got closer, despite the fact that, for once, she would be pretty much prepared for that. Sephiroth did his best to help her, but the fact that the magic was so different didn’t help, and it made him almost crazy to feel so useless. Flower didn’t agree, however. She gently explained to him that just his presence was already something, and it comforted her to be able to talk to someone who could understand what she had been through. And feeling concerned. Her friends... didn’t understand completely, alas. Oh, they were trying... but only someone with similar experiences could truly relate. And being thrown to monsters was something he understood perfectly... even though his were rarely human.

He sighed, rubbing his temples while looking at the date. June 24th. Flower's stress levels were through the roof, and she was struggling to swallow anything. To know what was waiting for her was almost worse than not knowing, she had told him the day before. Because she could imagine what was going to happen. And to be face to face with her enemy... was terrifying. Because he was older than she, more experienced... and above all without any qualms.

He sighed, thinking of Flower's stress. His wasn’t much better, because in addition to his own work (already horribly monstrous), he was also worried about her. He understood what she meant by saying that sometimes it was better not to know. The stress was such that he had to masturbate several times a day, even more than before, to try to make him fall back a minimum. Without much effect, alas. And the frustration made him even more snappish than usual, terrifying the cadets. The only good thing about it (if you could say that) was that the bullies were staying low. He had only three cases during the month of June, when he usually had at least a dozen. Per week.

Sephiroth came out of the shower rubbing his hair, deeply annoyed. All he wanted was to be satisfied. But impossible to get there. Throwing his towel in the laundry basket, he lay down on his bed with a sigh, completely naked. Some nights... especially when it was hot, he preferred to sleep naked. The higher body temperature of the SOLDIERS was both a blessing and a curse. It was useful in winter, yes, when they were in cold environments. But in summer? Under a sweltering heat? They were generally very susceptible to heat stroke. And it wasn’t because their body was recovering from most things faster that it was nice.

Sephiroth rubbed his face with a grunt, thanking their apartment for one bathroom per bedroom. It avoided the awkward situations of the kind to be face to face with the others when they were naked (even if it had happened sometimes when one of the bathrooms had a problem, usually his own because of his long hair), each having his own space to wash himself. He closed his eyes, trying to distract his mind. He wanted to avoid having to go back to masturbate in the shower, and to think of those times when he had stumbled upon Genesis or Angeal naked was a sure way to end up with a new erection that he would have to deal with in order to sleep. But by the Goddess... the other two were really well built physically... including their manhood.

He managed, however, to divert his mind from these thoughts, preferring instead to concentrate on Flower. The poor girl... was really in serious danger. All he hoped for was that she would survive the last test that had been stuck on her back.

Sephiroth used Wutaiean meditation methods to focus and calm down enough to sleep. He knew he wouldn’t be speaking with Flower this time, it would be for the next night. But he didn’t know if he would see what would happen to her in the labyrinth. And he wasn’t sure he wanted it... because he felt that she was going to have another test, probably as horrible as the others. And knowing that she had to let him get a body to defeat him... didn’t help him to calm down.

oOo

_ Sephiroth studied what was in front of him attentively. _

_ The hedge that formed the labyrinth had to be six meters high, more than enough to prevent the champions from seeing over, or anyone else. The silverette rolled his eyes at so much stupidity on the wizards part. Like the Second Task, it would be impossible for them to see anything. The opening in the hedge offered only a dark and disturbing path... especially knowing what was waiting for Flower at the end. She had told him that she wanted to avoid dragging anyone else with her in that event, but if the real school champion landed with her in front of the terrorist, she would try to save him if she could. Moreover, he would certainly make a good visual witness... if he wasn’t harassed to the point of giving up telling the truth. But his "House" placed special importance on loyalty and hard work, even if it was looked down on by others. _

_ Out of curiosity, Sephiroth had asked Flower for explanations on the subject. And he had snickers at certain descriptions. The black and yellow she described would go like a glove to Angeal, especially considering that their head of house was dealing with plants. Genesis would get along perfectly with the blues and bronze, as this House was considered a den of scholars (and why didn’t Scholar go there?). He himself would have been at ease with the greens and silver. As for Zack... he saw him quite in Flower's. He loved the colors red and gold, and lamented that the only color allowed for the SOLDIER are purple, blue or black. Unless you were 1st class. _

_ Shaking his head, Sephiroth watched the people approaching. The giant, the impostor, a... dwarf? A woman with a strict appearance, and the idiot in yellow and black robe. Except for the idiot, the other four sported a big bright red star on their pointed hat... except for the giant, who was carrying it behind his back. The strict woman explained to them that they would patrol around the labyrinth, and that if they were in trouble, they only had to send red sparks into the sky to be rescued. However, they would be disqualified if that were the case. _

_ The idiot then did something to amplify his voice (and Sephiroth was very interested in knowing how, it would prevent him screaming so much at the cadets who did stupid stuff), before announcing happily (too much for his taste) that the last task would begin. He then made a quick recap of the champions’ points, before launching a short whistle, sending Flower and her classmate into the labyrinth. _

_ Almost instantly, it was as if Flower had returned underwater. Probably a spell, Sephiroth thought. The silence was almost disturbing, but he could tell that Flower was relieved to be out of sight of the crowd if he trusted the way her muscles relaxed. Imitated by her classmate, she pulled out her wand, lighting the end with a word. They separated quickly enough, the first junction not being very far from the entrance, after mutually wishing each other good luck. _

_ Sephiroth didn’t like this place at all. It reminded him furiously of ambushes during the Wutai War. Well, from what she had explained to him, she was voluntarily walking into an ambush. It didn’t make him less worried. He barely paid attention to the other two whistles indicating that the other champions had all entered the labyrinth. The silverette noticed that she kept glancing behind her, feeling visibly watched, if he judged by the way he felt the fine hair of her neck stand up. _

_ The labyrinth continued to darken, the night tightening its hold, and Flower now depended almost entirely on her wand for lighting. Finally, she came to an intersection, and laid it flat on her hand, murmuring something resembling "point north." The wand spun on itself on her palm, before pointing to her right, towards the hedge. She groaned annoyingly, showing her that she needed to go in that direction to reach the center. With a sigh, she took her wand in hand to move forward. For the moment, she could only go to her left, waiting to turn right as soon as possible. This road was also deserted. _

_ Soon, Flower reached another junction that allowed her to go to the right. Here again, the way was clear. Sephiroth was very nervous about this lack of obstacles, which made him uncomfortable. Normally, something should have stopped her. However... even though he had the impression that the labyrinth was trying to give her a false sense of security, he knew the real reason why Flower didn’t encounter any obstacles. She had told him that the imposter would do his best to make sure that the path she took was clear. In a way, it suited Flower, because it allowed her to save her strength. He heard a movement behind her. Flower raised her wand as a precaution, ready to attack, but it was the boy from her school who appeared in the light beam. He had just emerged from the path on the right. He looked seriously shaken and smoke rose from his sleeve. _

_ “******’s ********** ******!” He said in a hissing voice. “They are huge! I just escaped them!” _

_ He nodded and disappeared along another path. Sephiroth felt Flower shudder at his words. Obviously, she knew what he was talking about, and clearly didn’t want to linger, because she hurried away. Whatever it was, she obviously knew what it was, and didn’t want to be face to face with it. _

_ Suddenly, at the turn of a bend, he saw... a man? Sephiroth frowned, puzzled, at Flower's reaction. The way her body had stiffened under the effect of terror... and her tremors... all pointed to the conclusion that she knew this man... and that she feared him. He wasn’t very impressive from the warrior point of view, even Palmer was more impressive! The man was more than obese, and sported a thick blond mustache, just like his hair. Sephiroth absently wondered how he couldn’t have died of a heart attack yet, especially with the purplish color of his face. His eyes flashed with anger, however, as he saw him undo his belt, a bad light in his eyes. He didn’t intend to do what he thought? Wondered the silverette, furious. _

_ Except that if he trusted the way Flower was shaking, he had already done it. And many times, no doubt. Sephiroth would have gladly strangled the man facing Flower, advancing menacingly, even though he didn’t know how he'd landed in the labyrinth. The latter was quietly murmuring "he's not real, he's not real..." in a trembling voice, obviously trying to convince herself of this fact and get rid of him... at least he hoped. Suddenly, the man froze, his face losing its purple color to become white chalk. He began to recoil, falling on his hindquarters and shrinking, to the surprise of Sephiroth and, no doubt, Flower. Continuing to retreat on all fours and shrink, he ends up being cornered against the hedge... no longer looking like anything known. _

_ Sephiroth would almost compared the creature trembling in terror against the hedge to a Goblin, but other than size, there was nothing in common. The skin of the creature was greyish, white symbols painted on his face and limbs, the little he could see. His long pointed ears had light blue earrings, two for each ear, and a pointed hat, in the same light brown tones as the rest of his clothes. Some dead leaves and others greener were attached to his belt alternately, and others inserted into the band of his pointed hat. The silverette was surprised to hear Flower murmur, totally perplexed. _

_ “But... wait a minute, the *******... it would be a ********?” _

_ He felt her sigh, passing her hand over her face, mumbling: _

_ “Oh and fuck it, I don’t want to know. Get out of there, you," she sighed in the direction of the creature, who continued to tremble with fear. “And never come back here, understood?” _

_ The trembling little being, scarcely about the size of a doll, frantically nodded his head, before disappearing into a whirlwind of dead leaves, making Flower shake her head. Clearly, she had recognized the creature, no matter what it was, and was obviously less afraid of it than the obese man he had taken the shape off. Sephiroth mentally took note of the man in question, carving his face in his memory. He felt her breathing deeply, probably to recover from her emotions, before leaving. Holding her wand over her head to light the way, she moved as quickly and silently as she could. _

_ Left... right... left again... Twice she found herself in a cul-de-sac. Again, Flower used her wand as a compass, and Sephiroth realized that she had apparently gone too far east, since she always said "north" when she put it down. Flower grumbled in frustration, before retracing her steps, taking a path on her right, and then fell on a strange golden mist that floated a few meters in front of her. _

_ Flower approached it carefully, lighting it with her light beam. It was surely a trap and he wondered if she could make it disappear. He felt her sigh with an exasperated groan. _

_ “I don’t have time to deal with this bullshit…” she grumbled. _

_ A female scream suddenly broke the silence, making her jump and swear. Sephiroth understood it. If he trusted the voice, it was the champion of one of the rival schools, the one whose headmistress was a giant. He heard Flower shout something, probably the name of the girl in question because it was blocked, but without result. The scream hadn’t echoed far, but the golden mist was in the way. Murmuring a new rudeness, she began to wave her wand, her gestures flowing but lacking confidence, as if she was practicing this spell for the first time in real conditions. Sephiroth couldn’t hear the incantation, much to his frustration, but he could see the effect immediately. The golden haze vanished in a few seconds, and Flower went on her way, almost running. Finally, she arrived at another crossroads, whose right branch led in the direction she was going. _

_ She paused a few seconds, panting, studying the branch paths. Sephiroth could feel her hesitating. Was the champion doing alright? He was getting more and more frustrated to see the events through her eyes, because it meant he had access only to what she could see herself. After a few moments, she finally found her way, looking from all sides, perhaps hoping to see the champion. _

_ For almost ten minutes, all that Sephiroth saw was the surrounding green walls. The only obstacles on the way were the junctions, and Flower used her wand each time to determine the right direction. Despite this, she was wrong twice before finally finding a way to the northwest. With a victorious whisper, she rushed in that direction, turning an angle... before braking in disaster, releasing what had to be a swear in front of the thing that faced her. And he understood her. _

_ The thing that faced them was easily over three meters. It looked vaguely like a Frozen Nail (if he trusted the documents he had consulted) or that monster dubbed Keeper of Materia, but who would have had legs sticking out a little from every angle... and a scorpion tail at the front and back. The carapace of a jet black shone under the moonlight, making it even more disturbing. Sephiroth blinked in surprise when the thing made a jet of fire, propelling itself forward and towards Flower. The latter threw herself back without hesitation, landing on her back. She then pointed her wand at the belly of the monster (Sephiroth realizing at that moment that the underside of the thing didn’t have the same color as the rest of the shell, and appeared softer), shouting an incantation. _

_ The giant scorpion stopped, and Flower took the opportunity to crawl away safely, before turning around and continuing to run. Sephiroth let out a sigh of relief in his mind, congratulating her for keeping a cool head despite the stress of facing such a thing. Knowing what you were going to fall on one was one thing, coming face to face with such a monster, even knowing what to expect, and being able to keep calm anyway, was another. _

_ Arriving at the previous crossing, she caught her breath, before choosing a path going on her left this time. She swore at finding herself in a cul-de-sac, turning around. The next path turned out to be another cul-de-sac, and she groaned in frustration. For her third attempt, she came back further, and finally found a path to the northwest. _

_ Sephiroth felt his nerves were going to burst under the effect of tension. The absence of obstacles was almost worse than meeting them all the time, because one didn’t have to be a genius to realize that it was a trap. And judging by the way Flower looked around her regularly, she knew it too. _

_ Nothing happened for several minutes, then Sephiroth heard a voice on the other side of the hedge. It was that of the official school champion, his tone ringing with a perplexed voice, nervous and worried. _

_ “What are you doing?” Exclaimed this one. “What's the matter with you? You are crazy?” _

_ The voice of the male champion of the other school then rose, pronouncing a word (an incantation?) of his accented voice. The boy's screams then rose in the night air, and Flower swore in a low voice. Pointing her wand at the hedge, she growled an incantation, burning the hedge. She had to try several times to get a hole big enough to pass (and yet it was not big), but not without grazing herself on the branches while passing through. She fell on the champion of her school, writhing in pain on the ground, the champion of the other school standing above him. Without hesitation, Flower used a spell sending a jet of red light, and the opposing champion collapsed to the ground, unconscious. _

_ She then rushed to her classmate, obviously worried. _

_ “You okay ******?” _

_ He nodded, his body still trembling as she helped him up. _

_ “Yes,” he answered, breathless. “Yes... I cannot believe it... He approached me from behind... I heard him, I turned around and he pointed his wand at me…” _

_ Flower shook her head. _

_ “Although I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to him much, I doubt that he did so of his own free will.” _

_ “Because of what you said before the tournament?” He asked, getting up. _

_ She nodded. _

_ “If *********... stop jumping at that stupid name," she said annoyed, "is not behind my entrance into this farce, my mother was a *****.” she said sarcastically. _

_ He snorted with some irony in response. _

_ “What are we doing? We leave him here?” He asked. _

_ “No, I think we should send red sparks. Someone will come looking for him... Otherwise, he may be devoured by a *******.” _

_ “He deserves no better,” muttered the boy, but he lifted his wand all the same, and threw a shower of red sparks in the air, that hung in the sky to indicate where their opponent was. _

_ They stood for a moment side by side in the dark, glancing around them. _

_ “Might as well go,” said her companion finally. _

_ “What?” Said Flower, obviously drawn from her thoughts. “Ah, yes... you're right…” _

_ Sephiroth could feel that she wanted to wait for someone to arrive, but they could not linger too long either. They resumed their way, before separating at the first intersection. Flower had taken the left path, and very quickly he couldn’t hear the other boy's footsteps anymore. Flower used her wand again to orient herself, accelerating her pace. At least, if he trusted the growing darkness, she was nearing the heart of the labyrinth. In spite of the few dead ends in which she found herself, she was obviously advancing. _

_ Sephiroth blinked in surprise at the next obstacle in her way. A creature that resembled what Hojo could have created: a huge feline body (or Blood Taste) with a human head, sporting a kind of... headdress on her head. The creature turned her big almond-shaped eyes towards Flower, who let out a sigh. _

_ She was blocking the passage by walking from one side to the other but didn’t seem to have any aggressive intentions. _

_ "You are very close to your goal," said the creature in a deep, hoarse voice. “The fastest way to get there is to go past me.” _

_ “In this case... would you let me pass, please?” Flower asked, but her tone clearly showed that she knew what the answer would be. _

_ “No,” the creature replied, continuing to pace. “Unless you solve my riddle. If you give the right answer, I'll let you go, if your answer is wrong, I'll attack you fiercely. Finally, if you don’t say anything, you can leave without damage in the opposite direction.” _

_ “I hate riddles as much as labyrinths,” Flower muttered, annoyed, before sighing. “Okay. Can I hear it?” _

_ Sephiroth understood her reasoning. If she didn’t say anything, she could turn around without danger. The whole problem was that it would waste time. But it was always better than being attacked by those claws, he thought, contemplating the imposing legs of the creature. The latter sat in the center of the path, and began to recite... verses? _

_ I have been called many names _

_ but all mean the same. _

_ I wield the sharpest of what once cut grains and grass. _

_ I'm living, although have no flesh. _

_ Finally, What is always there _

_ but not always seen _

_ but will take you in the very end? _

_ Who am I? _

_ Sephiroth felt Flower blink several times, visibly surprised. She mumbled, "I should have expected the riddle to be different," before sighing. She started pacing, mumbling, warning the creature that she was thinking aloud. Finally, she stopped and looked at her hesitantly. _

_ “... Death?” She said uncertainly. _

_ The creature's smile made Flower's muscles relax, and Sephiroth realized that she had to have the right answer, especially when she stretched and shifted to let the teenager pass, declaring: _

_ “That is correct, you can pass unscathed.” _

_ Flower let out a sigh, and went on her way, almost running to pass the creature, who let out a sudden yowling scream, like a drowning cat, causing Flower to jump in surprised fright, before she barely heard the creature mutter, seemingly terrified: _

_ “Yes, always there.” _

_ Flower probably decided to not ask questions, and kept running. Sephiroth really hoped she was getting close to the heart of the labyrinth, this waiting was killing him. Arriving at a new intersection, she used her wand to determine the direction. The latter pointed towards the path on the right, and Flower rushed in that direction. The silverette soon spotted a golden glow straight ahead, and a short time later he saw a large gold cup resting on a pedestal. _

_ Flower began to run as soon as she spotted it, and Sephiroth could see her classmate emerge from a path on the side, also rushing to the cup. He heard Flower swear realizing that she wouldn’t arrive on time, the boy was taller and with longer legs. Sephiroth suddenly saw something moving in a parallel path, protruding from the hedge. He didn’t dare to imagine the size of the thing, or its appearance, but if the boy continued like this, he would hit it hard. And as his eyes were fixed on the trophy, he had seen nothing. _

_ “Look out, to the left!” Exclaimed Fleur, shortness of breath. _

_ The boy turned his head just in time to throw himself forward and narrowly past the thing avoiding the collision but, in his haste, he stumbled. His wand escaped his hands as a giant spider emerged on the road and rushed at him. Sephiroth wasn’t afraid of spiders, nor disgusted... at a normal size. There, it had to be that of a truck! Flower used a spell, probably in the hope of distracting it from her classmate, since given its size, it would probably be insensitive to spells. And indeed, despite several spells launched by Flower, the giant spider rushed at her. _

_ Sephiroth had just enough time to see its eight sparkling black eyes and razor-sharp tweezers before it was on Flower. He felt her being raised in the air by the two front legs of the spider, and the teenager struggled like mad, obviously panicked, trying to kick it. Her leg then hit one of the mandibles and he felt terrible pain. He heard the boy crying out a spell, but again the spell was ineffective. Flower raised her wand as the spider opened its mandibles again and shouted something. Sephiroth felt intense relief when he saw that it was effective, and the spider let her go, but Flower fell nearly four meters and fell on her already injured leg that he felt it give way under her. And without seeming to take the time to think, she pointed her wand at the creature's belly, as she had done for the scorpion, and howled a spell just as the boy was giving the same scream. _

_ The two spells combined finally had the desired effect: the spider collapsed to the side, crushing a nearby hedge, in a tangle of hairy legs that stretched across the path. _

_ “****!” Cried the boy. “You’re okay? It didn’t fall on you?” _

_ "No," replied Flower, breathing heavily, her eyes on her wound. _

_ Sephiroth winced as he saw her leg. She was bleeding profusely and he saw on the fabric of her robe a kind of thick, sticky secretion that most certainly came from the spider's mandibles. Flower tried to get up but her leg was shaking and refusing to support her weight. She leaned against the hedge, trying to catch her breath, and turned to the teenager with her. _

_ He was only one or two meters from the trophy that glittered behind him. The silverette could imagine Flower's despair. To arrive so far, almost without mistakes, and to fail so close to the goal. He knew that Flower wanted to save his life, knowing that what awaited them if they take the trophy was an ambush with her parents’ killer on the other side. If he ever took the trophy alone... it was death guaranteed for him. However… if what Flower had said was right... his sense of fair play would refuse to let him take the trophy alone, despite the fact that it was at hand’s reach. _

_ His eyes alternated between Flower and the cup, clearly showing his inner dilemma. The desire to take it and claim victory for his house was literally written on his face. Finally he took a deep breath and spoke to Flower. _

_ “If I take the cup, something will happen to me that's it?” He asked, half-resigned half-desperate. _

_ Flower let out a sarcastic snort. _

_ "That bastard who murdered my parents is waiting for me at the other end. He wants to get his body back, and he only needs my blood for that. If you show up... he’ll kill you without hesitation.” _

_ “But not you?” He asked, stepping back, as if not to give in to temptation. _

_ She sighed, shaking her head. _

_ “Not in the immediate future, anyway. He's going to do a ritual, and then a big grandiloquent speech in front of his slaves, even if he didn’t tell them that when he enslaved them. After he will want to confront me, and that's where I would have a chance to run away.” _

_ The teen looked at her incredulously. _

_ “And you think I'll let you face You-Know-Who alone, ****? Are you crazy?” _

_ “******, you'll get killed if you come,” she replied angrily trying to take a step. _

_ Her leg nearly collapsed under her, trembling under her weight, and she just caught herself on the hedge, swearing in a low voice. Sephiroth thought that she must have sprained her ankle in the fall if he relied on the intensity of the pain. Fortunately, it didn’t look broken. Still, she couldn’t walk alone, and Sephiroth felt an intense desire to cut the spider into slices. The fight against the spider had left Flower panting, aching from head to foot, and her leg was throbbing. _

_ As she was, she was terribly vulnerable. The teenager approached her, cautiously skirting around the spider, and winced at the bloody wound. _

_ “Something must be done for that,” he mumbled, before gently saying something. _

_ Bandages came out of his wand, wrapping around Flower's leg while a splint also appear, stabilizing her leg. The teenager was finally able to stand alone, the splint apparently sufficient to help her. She looked up at the teenager, obviously skeptical. _

_ “You really intend to play the noble and generous knight, right?” She asked, not without derision. _

_ He snorted, tucking his wand away. _

_ “You know the ********** moto, ****. Loyalty and hard work are at the heart of our values. And no way am I leaving a student younger than me face a monster like this.” _

_ Flower sighed wearily. Obviously, there was no way to convince him to give up. Sephiroth wondered if she was going to stun him too, before realizing that if she managed to hide him, maybe he could survive. Maybe serve as a witness? _

_ “********** suicidal cretin,” she murmured. “Together, then?” She asked, looking up at him. _

_ He blinked, visibly surprised to see her capitulate so easily. _

_ “You give up as easily as that?” He asked, obviously skeptical. _

_ Sephiroth felt her shrug. _

_ “The only way to stop you is to knock you out,” she pointed out ironically. “And it's not like I can stop you physically. Moreover... if we do that, it will technically remain a ******** victory, right? This way, you will still keep the glory. I don’t want this damn fame,” she grumbled. “I never wanted it.” _

_ He looked uncomfortable, but helped her hobble to the trophy, supporting her under one arm. Both of them then reached for each of the handles of the cup which glittered before their eyes. _

_ “On three, okay?” Said Flower softly. “One... two... Three…” _

_ At the same time, they each grabbed a handle of the cup. _

_ At that moment, Sephiroth felt a jerk somewhere at the navel. His feet had left the ground and Flower clearly couldn’t let go of the Trophy, which dragged her like a tornado in a whirlwind of colors, her classmate still beside her. _

_ Sephiroth felt Flower's feet suddenly hit the ground, her injured leg collapsing under her weight, sending a wave of pain all over her body, and she let out a grunt of pain. _

_ “Where are we?” Asked her companion, helping her up. _

_ Flower murmured something in response, probably the name of the place if he trusted the "where's that?" uttered in a puzzled tone by the teenager. She then added: _

_ “Sorry, ******.” _

_ Followed by what must have been a spell to immobilize him and stick him on a tombstone, before whispering something else, gradually making him disappear from his sight. The silverette partially approved her actions, knowing that if she had done nothing, he would probably have been killed as soon as they were spotted. She had just whispered one last spell when her ears caught a sound. _

_ Sephiroth didn’t distinguish much around him, but enough to know that they were now very far from school. Obviously, they had traveled for miles - maybe even hundreds of miles, because the mountains that surrounded the castle had disappeared. They were now in a dark cemetery, overgrown with vegetation. To their right, behind a large yew tree, stood the contours of a small church. On their left rose a hill and Flower distinguished the silhouette of a beautiful old house that stood at its summit. _

_ Scrutinizing the darkness, she finally distinguished the silhouette of a man who was approached her and the boy hidden by walking among the graves with assured steps. Sephiroth couldn’t see his face but, judging from his walk and the way he held his arms, he was obviously holding something in front of him. Small in size, he was dressed in a cloak with a hood on his head to hide his face. When he got closer, the silverette felt like he had a baby in his arms... Or maybe it was a simple wizard's robe rolled into a ball? _

_ The man stopped next to a tall marble tombstone that was only two meters away from them. For a moment Flower stood perfectly still in front of the hooded figure watching her. She seemed to be hesitant about what to do, as if she was thinking about what to do. Or how to do it. _

_ Then, without any warning sight, Sephiroth felt a pain so unbearable that he felt like Flower's scar was exploding. Of his life, never had he felt such pain. Even Hojo's experiences didn’t come close. Flower dropped her wand, covering her face with her hands. Her knees bent and she found herself on the ground, unable to see anything. It was as if his head was about to split in two. _

_ A hand bruskelly grabbed her by the arm, pulling her up before she had time to recover, before pressing her against a gravestone. Sephiroth didn’t have time to read the name written on it, the person manhandling Flower having make ropes appeared to tie her from feet to head. Sephiroth could hear the panting breath of the person under the hood, and he almost hoped to see his face, to engrave it in his memory, in the unlikely opportunity where he would meet him one day. Flower struggled briefly, and the man struck her with the back of his hand. The silverette noted with interest that a finger was missing from this hand. A way to identify him, then. _

_ “You,” growled Fleur angrily. _

_ He realized that she obviously knew him, and he wondered if he wasn’t the famous traitor who had sold her parents. The man didn’t answer, busy checking the strength of the ropes, his fingers seized by uncontrollable tremors fumbling the knots clumsily. When he was certain that Flower could no longer make the slightest movement, he drew from his cloak a piece of black cloth, which he stuffed into her mouth as a gag. Then, without a word, he went away. Sephiroth fought against the urge to swear. She couldn’t hear anything, and couldn’t see anything. He didn’t know where the man had gone and couldn’t even turn his head to look behind the gravestone. Flower could only see right in front of her. _

_ The ball-shaped wizard's robe he first took for a baby was near the grave. Inside, something seemed to be agitated and Sephiroth felt Flower’s scar make him hurt again... He knew then that he didn’t want to see what was hidden in this robe... He didn’t want it to unfolded in front of her... he didn’t know what it contained... and, almost strangely, he didn’t want to know. _

_ Suddenly there was a sound at their feet, causing Flower's eyes to look down, who saw a gigantic snake waving in the grass around the gravestone to which they were attached. Sephiroth knew she wasn’t afraid of snakes, being able to talk with them, but he felt her shudder all the same. Making him understand that it was not an ordinary snake. He heard the wheezing and jerky breathing of the hooded man approaching again, accompanied by a scraping. It looked like he was dragging something heavy behind him. He then returned to Flower's field of vision, who saw him push a stone cauldron against the grave. The silverette blinked in disbelief, he had never seen such a large cauldron. It was a huge stone vessel, rounded like a belly, in which an adult man would have had the place to sit. Apparently, it was filled with water - Flower could hear it splashing. _

_ The thing wrapped around the rolled up robe fidgeted more and more insistently, as if trying to break free. Now the hooded man with a wand in his hand was bustling around the cauldron. Suddenly, flames crackled under the huge container and the great snake slither away in the darkness. _

_ The liquid that filled the cauldron seemed to heat up very quickly. It began to boil, projecting fiery sparks as if it had caught fire. A thick vapor escaped from it, blurring the figure of the man who kept the flames going. The bundle of cloth seemed to become even more agitated, and Sephiroth heard a shrill, icy voice, horribly familiar: _

_ “ _ Hurry up _ ,” it said. _

_ The silverette clenched his teeth. The last time he had heard that voice in one of Flower’s memories... she had almost died there. He sensed that again, that would be the case. Now the whole surface of the liquid was sparking, as if it were encrusted with diamonds. _

_ “It's ready, Master,” said a trembling, shrill voice, belonging to the man. _

_ “ _ Now _ ...” said the icy voice. _

_ The hooded man unfolded the robe, revealing its contents, and Sephiroth let out a disgusted howl in his mind, Flower’s own suffocated by the piece of fabric that gagged her. _

_ It was as if the man had suddenly flipped a stone beneath which was hiding a repulsive, slimy, blind thing - but what Sephiroth saw through Flower's eyes was worse, a hundred times worse. The thing was like a crouching child, and yet nothing could have looked more farther then a child. He was an entirely bald being, covered with coarse scales, a reddish black. He had slender, frail arms and legs, and a flat, serpent-like face with red, flaming eyes - never could a child have such a face. _

_ The creature just seemed to barely be able to do a few things. He raised his thin arms and hold them around the man's neck, which lifted him up. In the movement, his hood slid backwards and Sephiroth could see by the flames the man's pallid and sickly expression of revulsion as he carried the thing to the cauldron. For a moment, the flattened, evil head was illuminated by the sparks dancing on the surface of the liquid, and then he placed the creature in the cauldron. There was a whistle and it disappeared under the surface. Sephiroth could hear his frail body hitting the bottom of the stone container with a thud. _

_ A part of him prayed with all his might that this... thing drowns in the cauldron. Such an abomination... shouldn’t exist. Flower’s scar... was more painful than ever. But he knew that the poor girl wouldn’t be so lucky. Her luck... was generally atrocious. She was lives, yes, but never unharmed. He was drawn from his thoughts by the man’s voice, trembling and sounding terrified. He barely paid attention to his words, more interested in the unfolding of the events. A fine powder rose from under Flower's feet, landing in the cauldron. The warrior couldn’t restrain a grimace of disgust, however, realizing that the man had sliced his right hand, before dropping it into the potion, if he trusted the splashing sound that followed. The light that crossed Flower's eyelids (who had closed her eyes just before he cut his hand) was now bright red. _

_ She opened her eyes sharply, however, when the panting and painful breathing of her torturer (Sephiroth couldn’t think of him in a different way) moved closer to her. Flower struggled despite the bonds, refusing to let herself be passif, but she was barely able to squirm. The silverette felt the urge to murder rise again when he used the same knife he had used to cut his hand to slash the teenager’s arm, without seeming to pay attention to her squirming. He could feel the knife sinking into her flesh, and the blood running down her arm. The hooded man, panting with pain, searched his pockets with his good hand, before taking out a small vial and pressing the lid against the wound. _

_ After collecting enough blood, he staggered toward the cauldron, pouring the scarlet liquid inside, before collapsing to the floor, sobbing. Sephiroth felt no pity for him, however. He had sold Flower's parents to a monster, had hidden under the appearance of a rat for years, and had fled at the first opportunity. A small part of his mind wondered if he should ask Flower how it was possible. It would be an undeniable tactical advantage, especially if the form was of fighting size. _

_ The liquid became blindingly white, not helping Flower's pain, and Sephiroth’s echoed off it. The cauldron bubbles, sparking in all directions, like diamonds, and so bright that everything else seemed black by comparison. For a long time, nothing happened… _

_ Then the sparks suddenly disappeared, plunging the area into almost total darkness, aggravated by the thick smoke that spread from the cauldron. But soon, a wave of shivers shook Flower from head to foot: through the vapor cloud, she had just seen the dark silhouette of a tall, skeletal man who slowly rose from the cauldron. _

_ “Dress me,” said the shrill, chilling voice from the steam cloud. _

_ Shaken with sobs, the man, still holding his mutilated arm against him, picked up the black robe lying on the ground. He got up and, with his single hand, put the robe over his master's head. _

_ The skeletal man came out of the cauldron. He looked at Flower... and she looked down at the face that had certainly haunted her nightmares for three years. More pale than a skull, eyes scarlet and wide open, nose flat, with two slits as nostrils, like a snake… _

_ The murderer of Flower's parents and so many others had just returned to a new body. _

_ In a recess of his mind, Sephiroth couldn’t help but find the whole process atrociously cliché. The only good news was that the boy who had accompanied Flower was more or less safe, paralyzed and invisible. But he didn’t dare to imagine what he must feel. He was probably terrified, especially knowing that he was unable to defend himself at that moment. _

_ The man, pale as a corpse, quickly looked away, ignoring Flower. The latter took advantage of his distraction to spit the tissue that the traitor had stuffed into her mouth, before trying to moisten her dry mouth. Meanwhile, the terrorist began to examine his own body. He gazed at his hands, like big, pale spiders, then caressed his chest, arms, and face with his long whitish fingers. His red eyes, with vertical pupils like those of a cat, looked even brighter in the darkness. He reached out his hands, folded and unfolded his fingers with an expression of delight. He didn’t give a single glance to the man wriggling on the ground, his arm dripping with blood, or the snake that had come back and hissing circling Flower. Voldemort slipped one of his unnaturally long hands into a pocket of his robe and pulled out a wand. He stroked it gently, lifted it up and pointed it at the sob sobbing man on the ground, which was levitated and thrown against the tombstone to which the teenager was binded. He collapsed to the ground and stood there, curled up, moaning. Voldemort then turned his scarlet eyes to flower and burst into a shrill, icy, joyless laugh. _

_ Sephiroth had the increasing want of cutting him into pieces. This megalomaniac reminded him furiously of Hojo,in worse, because he had power, and knew how to use it, where the scientist had little physical strength and the little power that the President granted him. But within his domain, he was more or less all-powerful, as Sephiroth had seen at his expense when he was a child. From now on... a single misstep by the scientist pretending to be his father... or the revelation that he was not... and the warrior would be happy to throw him as food for his creations. _

_ He stared at the next scene, his eyes narrowed in the background, attentive and recording everything he saw. The warrior watched him pull up the sleeve of the coward (Wormtail unfortunately sounded more like a nickname than a name, but he knew at least how to call him now), revealing a hideous tattoo, which formed a skull from which a snake would emerge, bright red on pale skin. The silverette fumed with helpless rage as Flower's scar began to hurt her excruciatingly as he put his finger on the tattoo, turning it jet black, accentuating the contrast with the skin. The cruel and satisfied expression of the terrorist made Sephiroth cringe with anger, especially when he began to monologuing, speaking of his parents and those of Flower. _

_ He snorted with contempt at hearing speak of his " _ real family _ ." The men who had appeared one after the other in the cemetery were certainly not a family for him. Just cannon fodder. Some more useful than others, but that's all. The fabrics rustling broke off pretty quickly, and silence fell quickly. Sephiroth felt a deep disgust at seeing them approach the... monster, who stood in front of them, crawling up to reach him and kissing the bottom of his robe, before getting up and joining the others, forming a loose circle. There were spaces in this circle, as if people were missing, and the silverette tucked this information in a corner of his mind. _

_ He then watched, impassive, the human-shaped monster parading in the circle, removing the masks and calling some of his slaves by their names... blocked, to his frustration. The terrorist tortured some of his subordinates, barely interrupting his speech. The silver hand he offered to Wormtail surprised him, honestly. However... the silverette wasn’t stupid enough not to suspect that there was an ulterior motive behind. A security that can cost the life of the coward. He watched him tell what had happened. How he had returned to the country, using Wormtail, and calling him a mediocre wizard. Sephiroth could only agree. It was to wonder how he had mastered the transformation into animals. Finally, he turned to Flower, a sadistic gleam in his eyes, and the silverette had a bad feeling, which was confirmed a few seconds later when he raised his wand at the teenager, before saying a word, an incantation. _

_ Instantly, he had the impression that he had just plunged Flower into pure Mako. Her cries of pain echoed through the graveyard, and Sephiroth had never felt so helpless. It was as if his nervous system was on fire, a volcano of suffering erupting in every nerve. Finally, the pain stopped, and he let out a sigh of mental relief. Flower... didn’t deserve that, he told himself angrily. _ Nobody _ deserved that! _

_ He barely paid attention to the aura that had begun to invade the graveyard when the monster began to torture Flower. Cold, icy even, and relentless, it made the monster’s followers stir nervously, who looked around, wary and worried. But none of them made a move. Flower was half sobbing because of the pain, and the ropes were now the only thing that kept her upright. She was struggling to breathe, her breath short and her throat broken because of her screams. _

_ And the monster... laughed! He laughed with this high, icy laugh, seeming to find it amusing to torture an immobilized, injured child who couldn’t defend herself! In Sephiroth's mind, it only reinforced the resemblance to Hojo. Even his followers laughed at Flower's suffering. He then slowly approached, talking about the sacrifice of the latter's mother, and how she had protected her, bouncing the spell on him. The only thing Sephiroth could think of at that moment, as his presence worsened the pain in Flower's head, was that if he raised his hand on her, he would be happy to teach him what it was to suffer... and that there was much worse than death. _

_ Even as he thought that, the monster lifted a long pale finger, getting ready to touch Flower's cheek... before he had to jump back, his expression shocked, when something brushed his head, barely missing him. Sephiroth saw Flower blink, obviously trying to chase the fog that seemed to have settled, raising her head. Then blink again, as if to check that she wasn’t dreaming. The warrior understood why. _

_ Beside her stood a large statue, probably representing the Reaper if he trusted the scythe it held between its bony hands, the hood folded over its skull, in whose orbits were burning two pale green flames at the place of eyes. The statue made another gesture of its scythe, slicing the ropes holding Flower, and gently catching her as she collapsed, helping her to sit on the ground. A faint green glow enveloped it, the folds sculpted in the stone almost giving the impression of being a real fabric when it moved. Sephiroth couldn’t help shuddering as he felt the statue’s aura. An icy anger. Pure and simple, and of such intensity that all of the monster’s followers recoiled at the same time, apparently terrified. Even the monster didn’t seem comfortable, especially when the statue leapt in his direction, slamming its scythe on him to try to destroy him. _

_ Sephiroth felt Flower emit a snort almost amused at seeing him dodge the statue’s attacks. He even felt a certain amusement, it was almost karma at this level. Unfortunately, the statue being made of stone, and of great size, moreover, it was slower than its target, agile and mobile. Finally, the monster managed to destroy it with a spell, but he felt a certain satisfaction to see him so out of breath. The monster then turned to Flower, who had recovered enough to get up, staring at her with a frown. _

_ “Tell me, **** ******, why aren’t you more surprised by the fact that this statue moved on its own?” _

_ Sephiroth could almost feel her rolling her eyes. _

_ “Sincerely, ***, this bullshit is not even worth 8/10 on my personal weird-o-meter,” she answered, deadpan. _

_ An amused snort escaped him in spite of himself, especially when he saw the furious expression of her opponent. Still, he had the impression that Flower was either suicidal or had no survival instinct. Perhaps a little of both, he said to himself with some exasperation as she made an insolent middle finger to her opponent, before throwing herself to the side to dodge a spell. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to recover before she again took a spell that made her suffer, and her cries rose again in the night, under the snickers of the others. They were no better than their master, Sephiroth thought, disgusted. _

_ Finally, the pain stopped, and Flower was able to catch her breath. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks, but other than that, she showed no sign that what had happened had affected her. She stood up again, handicapped by her leg, and frowned, realizing that she seemed to know all too well how to avoid aggravating her injury, putting most of her weight on her right leg. Something told him that if he met the people she lived with... there would be blood and body parts on the walls. And Sephiroth doubted that Flower would stop him. There was no warmth in her voice when she spoke of them. _

_ The monster laughed softly, before declaring that he was going to face Flower, here and now, and send her body back to the school. A demonstration of power? Sephiroth snorted with contempt. It wasn’t a demonstration of power, but of gratuitous cruelty, he said to himself angrily. To confront a child in a duel, when he had decades of knowledge over her... it was a planned massacre. He would have gladly shown him what it was to face a real warrior. Someone trained in combat since a young age. _

_ Sephiroth smiled slightly at Flower's answer to his question whether she had learned to duel: _

_ “To duel or fight? There is a difference, knowing that thanks to this old goat, I had to fight for four years against you. As for the duel... the only dueling class I had was made by an incompetent jerk, who found the way to erase his own memory at the end of the year. So haven’t learned much, ***.” _

_ She ignored Wormtail who put her wand in her hand, before joining the circle of followers, who had tightened. Flower remained almost calm anyway, just stooping to dodge a spell. Her enemy narrowed his eyes, visibly frustrated at her actions. He insisted on respecting the forms, and greeting each other before the duel, before being frustrated by her refusal. He pointed his wand in her direction, insisting, and it was as if a giant hand was leaning against her back, forcing her to bend her spine, under the laughter of the "spectators". Flower sniffed in contempt when he let her get back up. _

_ “Still as bad a loser, ***? I will point out that given the lack of respect you have shown me so far, I don’t see why I would testify it to you. You are a coward able to pick on a helpless baby, so why would I respect you?” _

_ Sephiroth was genuinely torn between applauding her for her guts and catch her to shelter her behind him, especially when her enemy used again the pain spell. Flower writhed in pain on the ground, the pain even worse than before. Eventually, the pain stopped and she managed to get up, trembling all over. _

_ “We'll take a short break,” said the sadist, his snake nostrils dilated by excitement. “It hurt you, did it not, ****? You wouldn’t like me to start again, I think?” _

_ Flower didn’t answer. Sephiroth could almost hear what she was thinking. She was going to die like her parents, he saw it in those ruthless red eyes... She was going to die and couldn’t do anything to escape her fate... but she clearly didn’t intend to let Voldemort play with her. She didn’t intend to obey him... She wasn’t going to beg him… _

_ “I asked you if you would like me to start again?” He went on. “Answer me! *******!” _

_ And, to Sephiroth's biggest surprise, he heard a small voice whisper in his ears. _ Answer "no"... A simple "no"... Just answer "no"...

_ The voice was barely audible over the static noise, like a poorly tuned radio. _

Just answer "no"...

_ Sephiroth had the distinct impression that she was supposed to obey what she heard, but obviously the murmur didn’t have the power it should have. He could also see that she was studying her surroundings carefully, clearly looking for a way out. On her left, the circle was looser, and if she does it right, she might be able to escape. _

Just answer "no"…

_ “I’LL RESPOND NOTHING!” She shouted sharply, immediately breaking the spell he was using. _

_ These words had suddenly burst from her mouth. They echoed throughout the graveyard and it was like pouring cold water on his head. Sephiroth again felt the aches that the painful spell had left in her body... Whatever he did, it had temporarily blocked the pain. A respite too short, in the silverette’s eyes. Especially considering what she did next. _

_ “That's the best you can do? Even Professor Mad-Eye can do better!” She asked, giving him an insolent finger. _

_ “You don’t want to answer?” The terrorist said in a very calm voice. “You don’t want to answer "no"? ****, obedience is a virtue that I will have to teach you before killing you... Another small dose of pain?” _

_ He raised his wand, but this time Flower was ready. With a quick reflex that came from the practice of her sport, she threw herself on the ground, rolled behind the tombstone and heard the spell crack the marble without reaching her. _

_ “We aren’t playing hide-and-seek, ****,” said the calm and icy voice of the terrorist who was getting closer. _

_ The "spectators" had begun to laugh again. _

_ “Surely, you're not going to be hiding? Does this mean that you already have enough of our duel? Maybe you prefer me to finish right now with you? Come on, get out of there, ****... Get out of there and play the game... It will not be long... Maybe you will not suffer... I do not know... I never died…” _

_ Sephiroth would have gladly strangled him at this moment. He was clearly playing with her, like a cat playing with a mouse. Flower wasn’t stupid, he knew it, but against such an experienced adversary... it only delayed the inevitable. And he was aware that she knew it too. _

_ She suddenly leapt forward, ignoring the pain of her leg, taking her enemy’s servants by surprise as she passed between two of them, moving away in the night. She couldn’t go very far, Sephiroth knew it, but no longer being encircled by enemies was already a plus. She ran zigzagging, trying to dodge the spells that were firing in her direction, failing to avoid everything, even if she threw a few of her own. After a few minutes, out of breath, she stopped abruptly, and turned, facing her enemy, who had followed her. Putting her wand in her pocket, she suddenly did something that only Genesis had done so far, much to the silverette's surprise. _

_ Bringing her right hand over her shoulder, she sent bright green fireballs at her enemy, clearly taking him by surprise, if he judged by the way his eyes widened almost comically, before he was forced to dive to the side to dodge, the fireballs apparently not being blocked by whatever spell he had used. _

_ Sephiroth couldn’t help shuddering, though, feeling the aura of the fireballs. Similar to that of the statue... in much, much worse. The anger that emanated was almost suffocating... not to mention the impression of impending death that they released. He heard Flower murmur "again?" her tone annoyed and exasperated... and more than a little puzzled. So it was the same fire she had used against the dragon… but more powerful, the silverette noticed, seeing the marks it left on the stone. _

_ Her opponent stood up cautiously, watching, knitting his almost nonexistent eyebrows. _

_ “Well, well, the Savior of the Wizarding World uses Necromancer Fire? What would the masses say when they learn that you use forbidden magic, ****?” He taunted. _

_ Flower gave an exasperated sigh. _

_ “For the last time, *** ... I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!” She barked, making him raise a surprised eyebrow. “My goal was to torch your face! Not to use a magic supposedly prohibited because these morons of the Ministry want to dumbed the crowds to better control them! I don’t even know how I do it!” _

_ He stared at her for a few seconds, before laughing, that shrill, chilling laugh that put Sephiroth's nerves raw. He finally calmed down, looking at her maliciously. _

_ “All right, if you say so. Enough playing, though. It's time to conclude this duel... ***** *******!” He barked without warning, pointing his wand in front of him, towards Flower. _

_ “************!” Flower shouted at the same time. _

_ Sephiroth watched as the two streams of light darted toward each other, the first of the same pale green as the statue's aura or the fireballs thrown by Flower, and the spell from her own wand scarlet red. However... their meeting created, to his great surprise, a long thread of golden light, connecting their two wands, despite the fact that the streams of light have long since left the focus. The latters vibrating as if they had been traversed by a violent electric current, and Flower's hand was as if stuck to the wood, preventing her from releasing it. _

_ Suddenly, much to Sephiroth's surprise, the two fighters were literally lifted from the ground, floating in the air as if an invisible glass plate had been under their feet and had risen in the air. They flew slowly over the gravestone and landed on a square of bare grass, devoid of graves... The monster's followers had begun to scream, asking him what they should do. They drew near, reforming the circle around Flower and their master, the serpent wriggling at their feet. Some of them had taken out their wands. _

_ The gold thread that united Flower and the terrorist suddenly broke apart. Their wands remained tied to each other, but thousands of other lines of light were projected into the air, drawing a multitude of intersecting arches over their heads. Soon, they found themselves locked under a golden dome, like a huge spider web, beyond which the spectators tightened their circle, like jackals, their cries strangely muffled… _

_ “Do nothing!” Cried the terrorist in a piercing voice. _

_ Sephiroth saw his red eyes widen in shock at this phenomenon. He saw him trying to break the thread of light that still connected the two wands, but Flower squeezed her wand tightly, both hands at once, and the gold thread remained intact. Sephiroth had the vague impression that she knew what to expect, and refused to let go. _

_ “Do nothing until I give you the order!” Shouted her enemy to his followers. _

_ Then, a beautiful and supernatural sound rose in the air... It emanated from each thread of the luminous webs vibrating around them. Sephiroth had never heard it before, but Flower has, if he trusted the way he felt her sigh lightly, almost with relief? The melody was strange, almost scary, causing chills down his back, yet... contained something like... hope? In any case, it was the most beautiful sound the silverette had ever heard. _

Don’t break the link_ . Seemed to whisper a voice in his ear. _

_ "I know," replied the Flower in a low voice, as if addressing the music, "I know I mustn’t break it..." But she had barely whispered that it became more and more difficult to achieve. Her wand began to vibrate more forcefully than ever... and the light beam that united it to that of her opponent was transformed too... It seemed as if large beads of light were slipping back and forth along the golden thread. Sephiroth felt Flower's wand shake in her hands as the pearls moved slowly in her direction... Gradually, the pearls only slipped in one direction, from her enemy towards her, and her wand began to tremble with fury… _

_ As the nearest beads of light moved toward Flower, he felt the wood of her wand become so hot that he was afraid to see it ignite. He felt her inhale deeply, before staring intently at the pearls of light. Slowly, very slowly, the pearls of light stopped in a shudder, then, just as slowly, began to slide in the other direction... now, it was her opponent wand who vibrated with incredible intensity... He seemed stunned, almost frightened, seeing one of the pearls of light tremble a few inches from his wand… _

_ Sephiroth didn’t understand why she was doing this, he didn’t know what it could do... but he could see that she was concentrating as never before to force this pearl back into her enemy’s wand... Always with the same slowness... it slides slowly along the golden thread... trembled for a moment, then finally touched the wand… _

_ Immediately, her enemy’s wand issued screams of pain... A moment later, the monster’s red eyes widened before this vision. A thick hand-shaped smoke emerges at the end of the wand and disappeared... it was like a ghost of the hand he had offered to Wormtail... there was again cries of pain... Then something much bigger rose from the wand, like a gray smoke of such density it seemed solid... A head appeared... then a chest, arms… _

_ Sephiroth blinked in amazement as the figure landed on the floor. Giving the impression of getting out of a very narrow tunnel. The… ghost? Looking almost solid, yet it also looked like smoke. Leaning on a cane, he looked at the scene with attention, obviously disconcerted, before looking at Flower. _

_ “So he really was a wizard?” Said the old man looking at the snake-faced monster. “It's him who killed me... On you to fight him, my child…” _

_ Sephiroth blinked, however, seeing another shape coming out of the wand. It was a woman this time, whose voice sounded echoing too. She encouraged Flower, just like the old man, even though the snake-faced man looked almost terrified. The silverette blinked, however, noticing what appeared to be a suspicious mark on her enemy's robe. Did he... piss himself? He wondered with amusement. From his point of view, it was well deserved. _

_ The "ghosts" circling around the two fighters, throwing encouragement at Flower, and hissing incomprehensible words to her enemy, perhaps threats. A new figure began to come out of his wand, another woman. Her long, wavy hair was cascading over her shoulders, and he could only admire her beauty. The "mama..." murmured by Flower surprised him. It was her mother? Part of him was hoping to meet Flower one day. If she looked as much like her mother as he felt... she must be beautiful. The voice of Flower's mother echoed in the dome as she addressed her daughter. Telling her that her father was coming soon. He felt her nod, struggling to hold the wand almost motionless. _

_ A few seconds later, another silhouette formed. Tall, his hair sticking in all directions like a bird’s nest, a man unfolded his immaterial figure, landing delicately on the ground. Flower's father approached her, talking to her in a low voice, almost ignoring her enemy, whose pallor must now be due more to fear than to his new body. _

_ “When the link is broken,” he said, “we will only stay a few moments... But we will give you time... You have to go back to the *******, it will bring you back to ********… You understood, ****?” _

_ Flower nodded, sweating under the effort required to keep the wands aligned. Her mother spoke quietly, her words strangely disturbing from her point of view. _

_ “Never forget one thing, ****, your Familiar is always at your side... he will protect you as well as possible.” _

_ He felt her blink, visibly disconcerted, but she nodded without answering, keeping her energy. Her father added something, and Sephiroth had the impression that she was holding back a violent desire to slap herself. _

_ “Above all, don’t forget that boy who came with you,” he said softly. “Your spells will not hide him forever.” _

_ “All right,” said Flower, tense. _

_ Sephiroth could, however, understand that she had forgotten him, with all that had happened. To fight for your life had that effect, he had noticed. _

_ "Go now," murmured her father's voice. “Get ready to run... Now…” _

_ “NOW!” Cried Flower. _

_ She raised her wand brutally, with all her strength, and the golden thread broke. The dome of light vanished immediately, the song stopped, but the ghostly silhouettes of her enemy’s victims were still present and surrounded their assassin, hiding Flower from his eyes… _

_ Flower ran as she had never run in her life, knocking out two stunned followers on her way. She ran zigzagging through the tombs, feeling behind her the spells they threw at her and crashing against the gravestones. She rushed to the place where she had hidden the boy, so focused on her goal that she no longer felt any pain in her leg. _

_ “***** her!” Shouted the terrorist's voice behind her. _

_ Three yards away from her classmate, Flower had to dive behind a marble cherub to avoid the jets of red light and Sephiroth saw a wing of the statue shatter under the shock of the spells. Hand tight on her wand, Flower rushed forward, casting a spell blindly behind her. A muffled scream told them that at least one of her opponents had been hit, but she didn’t even stop to check. _

_ She plunged forward over the trophy, rolling to get up. She had to duck herself on the ground to dodge spells, and replied with some of her own, even sending a couple of green fireballs to squatter them. _

_ Flower grabbed the boy's arm before pointing her wand at the cup, shouting something. The latter flew in the air, as if she had pulled a rope to attract it in her direction. She caught it by the handle, and the last thing she saw was the enraged expression of her enemy, even as she was swept away by a swirl of colors, with a hook giving the impression of having grab behind her belly button. _

_ She landed her face in the grass, with the feeling of being on a spinning top, if he trusted the way the world seemed to be spinning wildly around her. Flower kept her eyes closed, as if to try to diminish the vertigo. She finally raised her hand holding her wand, pointing it at the boy, whose arm she still held, and muttered something, the effect of which was to be similar to AntiSpell, because he immediately felt the other reacting. _

_ Sephiroth was at least relieved to see that he was still alive, and that he had nothing, even if he was shaking Flower panicky. The poor girl already had the head that spinning enough like that! Still happy that he remains respectful of her, but Sephiroth would have liked to be there. To hold her against him, and comfort her. Especially since her scar continued to burn her painfully. _

_ Suddenly, it was as if someone had put the sound of the world back... and settled it to max. He felt Flower tense, especially when someone turned her on her back. She visibly forced herself to open her eyes, and blinked repeatedly to clarify her vision, and focused on the face of the last person that Sephiroth would have liked to see her approach. The old goat had a strange expression, something between anxiety and satisfaction, but too well hidden for Flower to realize. Not to mention that the concern felt wrong in his eyes. _

_ The silverette noticed how Flower looked around her, seeming to look for someone. She let out a groan of protest when the old goat suddenly lifted her, and wavered, heart to the edge of her lips. He felt her raise her hand in front of her mouth, fighting against nausea, a feeling far too familiar for the lab survivor he was. Some injections... put him in this state for days, especially when he was younger, which was a feat considering his constitution. But... since the dreams had begun... he no longer heard this vague murmur in the background. That strange voice that was trying to convince him that she was his mother. _

_ He was distracted from his thoughts by the boy, who was arguing noisily with a green-clad man, and furiously shaking his head dress with a... round hat? In response to what he said. Like what the terrorist who had killed Flower's parents could not have come back. He was dead. Sephiroth mentally snorted with contempt. And his hair was jet black, he thought sarcastically. The classmate (and Flower’s competitor) refused to be intimidated, however. Sephiroth liked him for that... and he had little doubt that Angeal would have liked him, if only for the loyalty he showed. _

_ Flower's voice rose in the air, still trembling but clearly determined to be heard, leaning against the old goat who helped her stand up, asking if anyone had seen a teacher... Mad Eye? The same she had talked about in the cemetery? Asked why she asked for this, she revealed that the Mad Eye in question had helped her throughout the year with the Tasks, despite the fact that no one was supposed to help her (in anyway, none of the teachers) and she wondered if he wasn’t behind all that. After she was told it was impossible, she asked impassively if anyone could have taken his place, using a potion... and hadn’t tried to run away. _

_ The old goat sent people in search of the famous teacher, before taking her with him, ignoring her exhausted protests, and the fact that she wanted to go to the infirmary to nurse her leg. Unfortunately, she was clearly too weak to resist, and she was unable to stand without help. The adrenaline rush passed, her leg had gone back to making her suffer, and she saw things as though through a fog. He led her through the whole castle, Sephiroth trying to memorize the way... but how could the stairs move? He wondered absently, as Flower and the old goat patiently waited for them to stop, the teenager leaning against the railing, having stopped protesting seeing that it was useless. _

_ Finally, they arrived in front of a stone gargoyle, and Sephiroth blinked, surprised and disgusted at the password. Cockroach Clusters? If he remembered well, Flower had told him that the password for the school headmaster's office (the current one anyway) was candy names. But a candy called Cockroach Clusters? Eurk. At least Flower didn’t have to climb the stairs with her aching leg, they were moving by themselves. Upon entering the office, the first thing Sephiroth noticed, even before the red and gold bird on his perch, was the emaciated man standing in the room, who rushed to Flower, visibly anxiously worried. With trembling hands, he helped her to sit on the chair, keeping one hand on her shoulder. _

_ Sephiroth didn’t know who he was, but the teenager clearly trusted him, if he judged by the way she remained relaxed in his presence. The inspiration struck him, or rather the realization that it was probably the famous godfather who had escaped from prison for her. In addition, his concern for Flower alone was a big clue. He asked what had happened, and Flower sighed wearily. She slowly began to summarize what had happened, wincing in pain as the old man began undoing the bandage, but didn’t stop. She showed the wound on his arm, where the rat (and Sephiroth liked this nickname for him) had taken blood, hardly flinching when the red and gold bird came to perch on her knees, giving off a pleasant warmth. _

_ He felt her lips stretch in a smile, and she gently greeted the bird, starting to pet him distractedly. Her godfather again protested about making her relived what had happened, but Sephiroth could understand the old man's reasoning, even if he didn’t accept it too. Telling the story now would be hard, emotionally speaking, but as it was still fresh in her memory, the risks of forgetting a detail were less important. The bird let slip a soft note, and it was as if Flower had swallowed a sip of warm liquid, giving her strength. The silverette wondered if it wasn’t a Phoenix, given the flames color and invigorating song. _

_ Flower let out a sigh before the triumphant glow in the Old Goat's gaze when he learned about the blood that had been taken before it was replaced by an expression of shock and panic when she described the statue that had come to life, coming to her defense. Except for a few questions here and there, the old schnock didn’t interrupt Flower, after examining the wound on her arm. Her story of the filament of light was greeted with shock by her godfather, but not the old man. The words uttered by the elder were blocked, to the silverette frustration, but not the explanation on the phenomenon. The fact that the wand of her enemy was forced to submit to that of Flower was interesting information, that Sephiroth carefully put in a corner of his mind. _

_ The information on the... "echoes," as he called them, was also interesting, though a little useless anyway. Flower told what they had done, keeping silent her use of the Necromancer Fire. She didn’t need that, and Sephiroth approved. She also kept silent her mother's words, reporting just what her father had told her, to not forget the boy. _

_ A movement on the side of her leg caught her attention, and she looked down, to see that the Phoenix had left her knees, and had landed on the ground, his head leaning against the wound. The silverette could see the big pearly gray tears fall on the wound, and it closed in a few moments without leaving a scar. Flower let out a sigh of relief as the pain disappeared as the bird resumed its flight, returning to its perch. _

_ She sniffled quietly when he praised her courage and determination, and he approved. The old goat refused her any training on the pretext that she had to "appreciate her childhood" and literally sent her to her death. He rolled his eyes when, _ finally _ , the old schnock decided that Flower had to go to the infirmary... before blinking, incredulous, as her godfather suddenly changed shape to become a big, shaggy black dog. He sighed mentally, shaking his head. After all... Flower said the traitor turned into a rat, so why couldn’t another wizard turn into a dog? _

_ However... if he trusted the symbolism of the two animals... it gave serious clues to the respective characters of the two people. The cowardice of the rat... and the loyalty of the dog, until death. Sephiroth remembered that Flower had explained to him, when he asked her for details about her godfather's escape, that he had been swimming for hours in the icy water. Even if he had escaped in summer... the sea was very cold at the latitude where the prison was. And when we thought about the fact that he was a human without any enhancements... or a dog at that time... Sephiroth could only respect his courage and his determination. Certainly, he had made mistakes... but from what she had told him... sorrow and anger caused most people to make mistakes in judgment... like chasing a traitor upon the death of the person whom you considered a brother. The fact that he had been taken by surprise was not shameful either, from the silverette point of view. Even if you knew the person well... you weren’t safe from a surprise. _

_ Lost in his reflections, Sephiroth didn’t realize that they had moved until a door opened and the shrill voice of a harpy rose in the air, pronouncing Flower’s name. She starts to rush towards her, but Old Goat raised his hand, asking her to calm down and explaining to her that the teenager had a particularly painful night, and that she needed to rest. He felt Flower relax, no doubt relieved. He frowned, however, looking at the woman's discreet but calculating glances at Flower and Chessmaster, presumably her son if he trusted the resemblance. _

_ He sniffed, however, seeing her hissing at her son and Scholar, as if she was the mistress of the place, and he shook his head, disgusted. This woman... announced problems, he would have bet Masamune. He smiled with amusement, however, seeing the nurse worry about the dog's presence. A good nurse, he told himself with approval, before snickering when Old Goat assured her that the animal was very well house trained. He diverted his attention, however, when Flower changed into her pajamas wearily, the events of the evening beginning to catch up. He wasn’t a voyeur, and respected her too much to spy on her in such moments. _

_ Her canine godfather sat down next to her when she had finished, resting his head on the edge of the mattress, within reach of Flower's hand, who pet him with a weary and grateful smile. Her other friends sat on the sides as well, just before the nurse came back with a cup of unidentifiable purple potion, but apparently to sleep dreamlessly. Sephiroth wasn’t sure it was a good idea, especially in the long run, but right now it was probably what she needed. _

_ He watched her swallow the potion in a few sips, to fall asleep before she had finished swallowing. _

oOo

Sephiroth opened his eyes with a low growl as he woke up. His already bad mood was further aggravated by his alarm, which rang out at the same time, and his gaze focused on it. He had the choice between destroying his alarm clock or the little cat statue that raised his paw, but it wasn’t really a choice to make.

Without hesitating for a second, he summoned Masamune, slicing the alarm clock in half, before throwing it towards the wall, watching it burst into pieces with some furious satisfaction. But it was not enough, and he got up, continuing to growl in the back of his throat. Barely taking the time to get dressed, he strode toward the nearest VR room, fulminating with helpless anger. He paid no attention to the cleaning staff and other security guards, the only people already up at such an early hour, who threw themselves against the walls when crossing his path to get out of his way, terrified by his furious aura, and seeing that he was leaving _ frost _ on the carpet behind him, where his feet had landed.

Hojo had the misfortune to see Sephiroth in this state of fury, and the luck that he did not notice it before entering the VR room. The scientist briefly wondered what could have put his perfect SOLDIER in such a state of fury, before he decided he wasn’t too keen to ask the question. The last time his "favorite" experiment had been in a similar state, he had demolished a VR room... and he could see it going the same way. He discreetly turned back to return to his lab, just to change. The traces of blood on the coat were acceptable. The pants with a suspicious spot at the crotch? Much less.

He almost had a heart attack, however, when the Commander Rhapsodos passed him, literally fuming with anger (Hojo could _ see _ and feel the heat waves that emanated from his body), without appearing to see him either. The scientist was already seriously disturbed by these two encounters (the phenomenon was rare, but could happen from time to time) when he passed Commander Hewley.

Normally, he had nothing but contempt for Hollander's failed experimental subjects. But there... Rhapsodos was even more... fiery (no bad puns intended) than usual, as evidenced by the charred carpet pieces in the form of footprints, literally forming a trail behind the scarlet Commander. And Hewley? Normally, he was considered a gentle giant, calm and posed. Not that morning. The potted plants in the corridors literally _ shuddered _ as he passed, and if he would have liked to study the phenomenon more closely, his instincts (as atrophied as they were, Hojo still had a proper survival instinct) were screaming at him to keep as far away as possible from the Holy Trinity, as the three 1st Classes were nicknamed.

And that wasn’t counting the kid.

The hyperactive kid ran past near Hojo, and the scientist felt his sphincters relax completely Originally, he had only planned to change his pants, but the expression on the boy's face had terrified him to the point that he had shit himself. He vaguely knew that Fair, which Hewley had taken under his wing, had apparently a lot of potential... if one passed the young crazy puppy's side. But there, there was no trace of the boy constantly happy and friendly. No, it had been an enraged Nibel Wolf (despite being from Gongaga). And who had no target to release his anger.

Hojo may have been crazy, but not stupid. Fortunately for him, his lab had showers and a room in which he could sleep between two experiences (aka tortures). With a fridge, which he hoped to be full. Because it was out of the question for him to put his nose out before the Holy Trinity and the Puppy had calmed down.

oOo

Reno's eyes were pricking, and he was half grumbling in his absent beard, half awake. Tseng was really a bastard for having him take the first guard shift in the Turks HQ, to watch the security cameras. Okay, he had been the victim of the joke planned for Balto, but that wasn’t a reason! Although seeing Tseng with fuzzy green hair was worth it, he thought with some amusement, struggling against the urge to go get a cup of coffee to wake up.

Tseng would interrogate him on his arrival about what he had seen, and if he couldn’t answer to the Wutaieen satisfaction... Reno shuddered just to imagine the "trainings" he would suffer.

The redhead was suddenly pulled from his torpor by a familiar face on one of the screens... but the expression wasn’t familiar _ at all _. Sephiroth strode up the halls, his expression furious and absolutely terrifying. Reno did remember seeing him like that once... and they had to fix the virtual reality room he had used that day, which took several days if he remembered well. Almost two weeks even.

His gaze wandered over the other monitors... and he swallowed nervously as he saw the other two members of the Holy Trinity... who looked just as mad as the silverette. Genesis? People were accustomed to his explosive nature, so they usually steered clear of him when he looked a little in a bad mood. But Angeal? His expression rivaled that of his friends, and it was just_ terrifying _ to contemplate. Because even the worst idiots of cadets had never caused such an expression of fury. He was known to keep calm under all circumstances, like Sephiroth, so to see him angry…

_ Not normal, not normal at all _, thought the redhead shuddering. The impending end-of-world impression was confirmed when he saw Zack by accident on another screen. The Puppy just looked like he had evolved into an enraged Nibel Wolf... and if he was not mistaken, Dr. Creepy had just shit himself.

It was the last blow for Reno, who pulled out his PHS and began typing frantically, texting all the Turks who were working (and even those who weren’t working today).

_ Mayday, mayday, hit the deck, we have a rabid Trinity and a Puppy ready to tear off the heads of all those who annoy him! _

Reno just hoped he would be taken seriously, he didn’t want another Turk to get his head torn off by an enraged member of the Trinity or a puppy who wanted to let off steam on someone. The memory of the SOLDIER who had ended up in the infirmary because of fireballs still lingered in the redhead’s memory.

A notification on his PHS made him jump, and he took it out, to see that Cissnei had sent another text in response to his.

_ Reno isn’t kidding, I just passed Zack in the hallway... and I think I'm going to change my underwear. Stay away from the Tower if you can... and if you can’t, avoid VR rooms. In my opinion, we aren’t going to have only one out of order this time. _

Tseng then sent a message, confirming the information, and ordering all the Turks to keep a low profile. A SOLDIER could survive Genesis’ fireballs, not a Turk. Almost like an afterthought, he then sent a message to Balto, busy keeping an eye on Rufus, ordering him to keep the young heir _ away _ from the Tower for the next few days.

Tower that was emptied in a few minutes suspiciously, rumors running at full speed.

_ To be continued… _

_ Second chapter finished o/ _ ** _(damn right it’s done, took so long to translate too - Dragon)_ **

_ And here is the conclusion of the last task. The first ripples of change have begun to form, in both worlds. _

_ The next chapter? Our favorite pyromaniac of course! _


	4. Fragments of Fire Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READ ME:All right, now so some people start flaming this fic and make pot shot at my translation. Let me remind you that im translating this fic for you guys,im not obligated to do so. And while yes i may miss something while i translate, im going to point out that every chapter of this are long ass chap. there is also the fact that im not the only one you are insulting with those comments, but 3 of us. Me, the author (Fumseck73) and a friend that do a last pass on it before posting when she has time (Selera).
> 
> We 3 do so while considering the readers, but we are not perfects we will miss somethings, so while it may make some translation wrong, take in note that it could be worse and not been edited at all. There is also the fact that the author is Pure French from France while my french is Canadian/Quebec. sometime I myself dont understand her context so it is the hardest to translate at points. Now the tertiary editor is a pure English Canadian with bad grammar.... 
> 
> So if it displease you that much dont read it.
> 
> Now for those that dont actually care for the sometime wrong translation and just read it to enjoy the actual story i thanked you all for the support and please enjoy this new chap you were all waiting for.

Genesis emerged, blinking, then glared at his clock. He hated getting up so early, since he really wasn’t a morning person. Angeal sometimes called him a Coeurl, joking that he behaved like a cat... suffering from pyromania. Generally, the redhead only reaction was to flip him the bird. He liked his childhood friend too much for throwing fireballs at his face as he did to others.

With an annoyed grunt, he got up, running his hand through his hair to tame them a minimum. The gesture, however, remained distracted, even as he entered his bathroom, his mind continuing to drift towards the girl with whom he had spoken in his dream. Was there a connection with the fact that he no longer dreamed of the flower as usual? Well, no longer dreamed of the flower... he still had dreamed of a bush of flowers the following night. In a castle.  _ Talk about a cliché _ , he thought ironically. On the other hand... what was up with this goat trying to attack the flowers? He wondered with frustration. Because the bushes... looked sick, and in a sorry state. He had pulled out Rapier, furious, and had done his best to slice the goat, but he was fast and smart enough to dodge him, to his utmost frustration.

Seriously, he couldn’t stay still for five seconds, so he can take care of it? He thought absently while getting dressed. It made him think of the puppy. Genesis couldn’t stop the jealousy that ran through his heart whenever he thought of the hyperactive kid. The kid was still... quite adorable, he had noticed. A radiant disposition, and a cheerful temper, which took pleasure in helping those in need. He also dreamed of being a hero, like Genesis, and he could only admire him for his courage.

These thoughts led him to rethink about the girl he had dreamed of. Her... pessimism and cynicism about the hero status, now that he had a little time to think about it... worried him, to be honest. What could she have lived through to be so cynical? Certainly... she had told him that she was an orphan, like him... and that someone was after her life, while another refused to help her. Then the jealousy of her friend she had mentioned... why was it touching a string in him?

He entered the kitchen, thoughtful, sitting in his usual place. The Puppy was calm for once, respecting the fact that Genesis wasn’t a morning guy. He was barely staying in place, of course, but he clearly showed that he was intelligent and empathetic enough to realize that some were not able to function until a certain time. And it raised the redhead esteem for the kid. Although he couldn’t help but be jealous that he was taking a lot of Angeal's free time.

Sephiroth was at least right on one point, aside from the sword (and he saw the kid using the same kind as Angeal's in the future), Zackary Fair hadn’t yet shown any real preferences for magic or the sword. He seemed ok (not extraordinary, but not bad like Angeal either) with Materia, and had some potential. Genesis had seen recruits with more potential, but very few. And a good part of them had been discharged for harassment and bullying.

The redhead shook his head, disgusted. He himself hated bullies, having been a victim when he was a child. His bookworm side had attracted a lot of mockery from the other Banora children, until Angeal came to his aid. And not because he wanted to make buddy-buddy with the son of the town mayor, with access to his finances or something else (as some who had wanted him to pay them things... they had quickly left, and joined the ranks of bullies in spite), no. Just because it was the right thing to do. Genesis didn’t knew him before, or had barely seen him, but he knew he was one of the poorest in the town. And yet... Angeal hadn’t asked for anything in return,  _ Genesis _ had been the one who had offered him some Banora Whites.

He let out a sigh, his mind continuing to think of what the girl had said in their discussion. Why was she so pessimistic about the hero status? What could have happened to her to be so cynical? He wondered, unable to turn his mind away from this discussion of the following days.

His reflexions took his attention so much, sometimes, that he was completely lost in his thoughts. And even Sephiroth, who seemed totally disconnected socially, had realized it, apparently. Even if Angeal had been the one who had asked him what was on his mind, without knowing what to answer to his question whether it was wrong to want to be a hero. He hadn’t really been able to give a clear answer, though. But... he told him something interesting... and similar to what  _ she _ said. That you couldn’t be everyone’s hero... and that you couldn’t put everyone in agreement with your actions.

He hadn’t dared to say that it was someone he was talking to in his dreams who told him that, though. Rather pretend that it was someone with whom he corresponded, even if it was unlikely. And he hoped his fan clubs would never hear about it. He loved the worship of the crowd, yes, but some were really too crazy for him. Like those who sent used panties... of all kinds. Just the memory made him shiver, though he remembered laughing slightly maliciously when it happened to Sephiroth at first. And he laughed even more when he found the perfect way to punish some SOLDIERS. Have them open their fan mail and sort the letters. All that was useless or frankly beyond the reasonable ended up in the fire... and that included the dirty panties. And that way they didn’t have to suffer that themselves.

Genesis was still looking forward to seeing that happen to the puppy, just to have the opportunity to laugh at him. But if he knew Sephiroth as he thought, the day the kid would have his own fan club like them, the silverette would add his mail to the mail sorters schedule. The SOLDIERS who were in these teams usually did their best to avoid this punishment again.

His lips twitched with amusement as his pencil ran over the sheet, adding details here and there. Reading Loveless wasn’t his only way to relax, it was just the easiest to transport and store quickly. He also liked to draw, although many would have looked at him with bewilderment at seeing that yes, he had the patience to draw. Angeal was probably the only one who knew he could draw, and very well on top of that. Genesis tilted his head to one side, frowning as he grabbed the eraser to remove a poorly made line on one edge of the drawing.

He had several erasers, each with their degree of hardness and different sizes for each type. Some were large and very abrasive, others thinner but equally abrasive, others still large and soft when it needed to erase a large area, or to create shadows by spreading the pencil. Same thing about drawing material, by the way. He had everything from different types of paper, pencils, different types of paper to pens, and even paints (gouache or oil), or crayons. Everything was carefully stored in one of the drawers of his dresser, and he always took great care to put them back in place. Not that he was ashamed of his hobby, but he liked to be able to draw in peace.

Cackling like a Behemoth, he added the final touch to his drawing. The Puppy, with dog's ears and a tail moving a hundred times a minute... or that gave the impression anyway, with the multiple images of tails behind him, traits connecting them to give an impression of movement. He put the pencil next to the drawing, staring at it with amusement. Yes, it was just perfect. Now, it only remained to ink it and add a little color in the skin and eyes…

Genesis frowned, however, realizing that his Wutai ink bottle was empty. He swore softly, also realizing that he also had almost no gouache in some colors, especially blue and red. And if he wanted to be able to color the puppy's eyes with the right color, he would have to experiment by mixing these two colors to get the right shade.

With an annoyed sigh, he put his drawing in his drawing binder which was reserved for those who were still unfinished. He had a good package for each size or so, and in two copies: one for those who were finished, and the other for those who were not. Whether it was because he had no ink/pencils/paint of the right color, or because he lacked a detail, or was not satisfied with it. Sometimes... he would redraw a drawing a dozen times, until he found the right stroke of pencil.

Speaking of that... Genesis took out his copy of Loveless, the one he always had on him, which had become as iconic about his character as his sword and scarlet coat. It almost made him laugh to know that this edition, originally decried because of its pale pink color, was worth a fortune now because his fans were fighting to get one... and all because he always kept it on his person. While it was the cheapest edition, and that Angeal had offered him for one of his birthdays, having worked hard in the plantations to be able to offer it to him.

Opening the book, he looked at the drawing slipped inside, protected by a plastic film. The flower was beautiful, but he never knew what kind it was. With a sigh, he put away his equipment and put the book back in his coat pocket, undressing.

His dreams... had changed. Now... it wasn’t just the flower he saw. Now... either he was talking with this girl (he had to admit it, Flower was a nickname that suited her well, even though he would have liked her to find something else than Mr Apple Pie or Mr Apple and Smoke as a nickname for him), or he dreamed of this castle or what was apparently the area where she lived (with local critters), even her memories. And by the Goddess... he would have liked to _ strangle _ the person who had apparently _ locked her outside _ in the middle of winter! Was it related to the snow-covered flower he had once dreamed of?

Genesis rubbed his hair in frustration. So many questions... and so few answers.

The redhead shook his head irritably, slipping under the covers with a sigh. His scholarly side sometimes drove him crazy, especially when there were insoluble riddles like this. And above all...  _ how _ was it possible to speak with someone in his dreams? Because these dreams and the details they had were far too complex, detailed and mostly  _ logical _ to be _ just _ dreams.

Closing his eyes, he let himself go, sliding slowly into sleep. Why… was Flower undergoing all this? He wondered while falling asleep.  _ Nobody _ deserves to live through that!

oOo

_ Genesis raised an eyebrow at the dream. What was this place? He wondered, rather intrigued. _

_ The room was quite dark, and there were... aquariums? in the walls. It took a while to realize that they were actually vivariums, in which there were reptiles. Probably a kind of zoo, he thought, seeing all the people around Flower. There was very little of those on Gaia, and most were reserved for the noble (CAD the rich), or SOLDIERS, so that the new 3rd Classes could watch the monsters safely, at the same time as their instructors explained to them the weak points of the various monsters, where to slice and/or pierce these latters to kill them as fast as possible and with a minimum of risks for their person. _

_ Genesis had religiously attended all the mandatory classes for 3rd classes, even those not required in order to have maximum knowledge about monsters. The redhead was well aware that knowing as much as possible about the monsters’ weak points could save someone's life, or subordinates if the person rose in rank. And Genesis had every intention of being a good superior. Pyromania or not. And now that he was a Commander... he took his duty very seriously, and that included protecting his subordinates. Oh, if they made idiots of themselves and didn’t pay attention to lessons, he let them get hit by monsters a bit before intervening. Never enough to put their lives in danger, but enough to get the message across. Usually they didn’t do it again, and most of them even asked to retake the lessons they didn’t pay attention to. _

_ However... zoos with only ordinary animals were very rare. Especially because they brought in less money than others, and could be called "private collections". At Flower’s place... things were different, obviously. He still hadn’t seen monsters, and maybe there weren't any? _

_ He was drawn from his thoughts by an obese boy, who insisted that a snake do something. Even his... father, if he trusted the resemblance, tried to make the reptile react. It was apparently the biggest of the room, but seemed to prefer to sleep rather than react to this idiot or his friend. Genesis snorted with contempt. If he had been there... he would have gladly swung a fireball at their hair to teach them good manners. Pyro or not... he had been educated properly, and above all, he had been taught good manners. Not like these two idiots. _

_ His eyebrows climbed, almost disappearing in his bangs, however, when Flower began to speak with the snake. And the reptile... seemed to understand her? The discussion made him snickers... until a scream made her jump. Genesis would have happily grabbed the boy for a good spanking if he had been there (something the boy had clearly missed when growing up), because  _ hitting _ his own cousin (and Flower had been pretty sweet in calling him a fat ball in her descriptions) to remove her from the window was  _ not _ correct. _

_ On the other hand, the window which disappeared by itself... it was weird, impossible to deny it. But to the point of getting mad at her, when she clearly had no idea what had happened? And that voice that had spoken when the snake passed by Flower? It wasn’t wasn’t the snake who had spoken, right? And what did  _ “menina” _ mean? _

_ And above all… send a  _ child _ to a closet (which had all the look of a bedroom)? Genesis had the mad desire to charred the house... before pissing on the ashes afterwards. And it didn’t matter to him that the occupants (with the exception of Flower) were there or not. All just because she would have talked to the snake? It was unusual, okay, but to that point? And the way she had gone into the closet... there was such a sensation of... resignation that Genesis had wanted to gather her against himself to comfort her... especially when her... not uncle, but torturer, had told her to go to bed without food. _

oOo

Genesis awoke, growling in anger. He wasn’t as furious as the day he saw the flower bleed, but he was still in a very bad mood. What… sadist deprived a child of food?!? Besides... if he trusted what he had felt… Flower was unusually short for her age.

When he had asked how old she was... he was shocked to learn that she was going to be 14 this summer. Except that she wasn’t even reaching his shoulder if he relied on the height at which her head touched his back! She could barely get to his shoulder blades! And to top it all off, he wasn’t quite done growing up yet, even though he figured he would be a good 5’10 to 6’ feet. Maybe a little more.

Frowning, Genesis stood up, preparing for the day. No matter how his mind turned Flower's situation around... the only conclusion he came to was that she was being seriously abused by these people. And that was the best case scenario. Anyway, he understood why she didn't consider them family, if the glimpses of memories he had seen so far were a bit representative of what she was going through there. And why didn't she abandon them? He wondered while having breakfast, lost in thought. Even if an old schnock wanted to control her life... there was something fishy behind it. He should ask her the question.

With a sigh, Genesis went to his office. He had work to do, even if he hated paperwork... and still, he had far less than Sephiroth. He carefully avoided thinking about what the bleeding flower could mean, if it was indeed related to Flower. Because the images that came to his mind... was the kind that made him want to burn everything in his path.

Lazard had moderately appreciated having to repair the VR room for the second time in a year. Rumors also said that  _ Angeal _ had smashed the  _ same _ room a few months later... and Sephiroth would have been the first to shut it down. Genesis couldn't help but ask him if he would rather have each of them shut down a VR room, or go after the same one. Lazard's face was worth its weight in gold, and even though he had been stuck for a month teaching the Cadets the basics of using Materia instead of Sephiroth, Genesis continued to maintain that it was worth it.

He snickered again, remembering the blond’s expression. No, really, he wished he had a camera on hand at that time.

Sitting at his desk with a grimace in front of the piles of papers, he tackled the long task of trying to get rid of the paperwork. Fortunately, his reputation as an explosive pyro prevented most people from ditching more documents at him every five minutes, unless they were really important. It was Sephiroth who underwent the bulk of the administrative paperwork related to the requests for the SOLDIERS, especially concerning the missions. Lazard managed the rest.

Genesis frowned, patting the pen thoughtfully on the desk. He had done some research, but even with the authority he had, he couldn't find any clues on Flower. It was to believe that she didn’t exist... and that he had invented everything. The problem with this theory... was that it didn't fit with what he had observed. Too much detail, and above all it was far too logical. Not like those voices he remembered hearing after some injections.

He shivered at the memory. The pain in his left shoulder remained after some of Hollander's "special injections", but the hallucinations seemed to have... disappeared, for lack of another term, since he started speaking with Flower... or saw her life/country. No more murmurs of a female voice trying to impersonate his mother. He pursed his lips as he thought about it.

He had never known his biological parents... and even his adoptive parents knew nothing about them. At most that his mother would have apparently died while giving birth to him. And that they adopted him when he was only a few weeks old. Genesis closed her eyes, thinking back to his childhood. Until he had "met" Flower, he would never have called it idyllic. Oh, he had been treated properly, yes, and had received the best education money could offer. But during his early childhood... he had been heavily neglected emotionally by his adoptive parents. They had almost completely ignored him, entrusting his education to the servants, and it was only because the latter insisted that the Rhapsodos were his parents that he had integrated this notion a little bit. For him... until he was about 10-12 years old, they were the people he lived with. Almost foreigners. Even now... their relationships remained extremely distant.

And yet... after starting to speak with Flower... he had realized that if his childhood could not necessarily be called "nice"... his was idyllic compared to her’s, if he relied on the clues she had let out… and the glimpses of memories he had caught sight of. He, at least, hadn't been hit or starved, or locked outside because she had burnt breakfast...  _ at the age of six! _

Genesis swore abruptly when the pen caught fire in his hand, and hurriedly threw it into the trash, emptying a bottle of water over it to stop the fire as quickly as possible. He preferred to avoid triggering the fire alarm or the fire system, because that meant  _ redoing _ the papers he had just done. He let out a fit of coughs as he went to open the window, the smell of burnt plastic was horrible. The pollution from the outside was no better, he thought with a grimace, but it was the best way to get rid of the burning smell inside. He turned on the fan to clear the smoke, and not for the first time, was half happy half annoyed by the precautions taken in his office against fire.

His pyromania was so well known to the Shinra services that when he was promoted to commanding officer, his office was specially designed to resist fires, if he relied on the gossips of the company  _ (the secretaries should really do something else with their time than to gossip,  _ he said to himself with exasperated amusement) _ . _ The floor was tiled, the walls covered with fire-resistant paint (up to a point), there was always a bottle of water on hand in case, his wastebasket was made of metal and not plastic like that of Sephiroth or Angeal, the library shelves were _ covered _ with fire-resistant runes... and the fire system was triggered  _ only _ if flames were detected on the sensors. Which rarely happened. In general, the fireballs remained at breast height.

The fan was more there to help dissipate smoke odors quickly. The rest of the time... he didn't use it. Unless the air conditioning broke down, which was very rare. Genesis closed the window as soon as possible, but didn’t immediately return to his desk. Instead, he leaned against the edge of the window, lost in thought. Flower had a prominent place there, he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. The little she had told him about her life… worried him. He may have been an arrogant and pyromaniac asshole (as some people called him behind his back, but it didn't bother him), but he had manners, and he wasn’t a bastard. The other SOLDIERS still agreed on this point. As long as you avoid insulting certain subjects (Loveless and remarks about the bleeding flower), he didn’t throw fireballs without  _ real _ reason. Or that you were bullying Cadets, he thought, frowning, thinking back to Kunzel.

One thing that he, Angeal and Sephiroth had in common was their hatred of harassment and bullies. He and his childhood friend may not have had the authority to expel a student from the military in the event of proven bullying, but Sephiroth had gladly given them the authority to suspend the idiots for going after weaker than them (in any case Genesis thought it was with joy, Sephiroth rarely showing his emotions). Some had feared that Genesis would take advantage of it to abuse his authority, but he had shown them that he knew how to be serious. And Sephiroth always interrogated in depth those whom Genesis or Angeal laid off, showing that he was getting to the bottom of things before making any decision.

And the redhead was at least proud to be able to say that he had never laid off a cadet for no reason. He had refused the help of his adoptive parents to have a higher position in the company from the start, wanting to  _ deserve _ his rank. Especially knowing that they wouldn't have helped Angeal, who wouldn't have wanted it anyway. His friend may have been poor, but he had his pride, and worked hard. And just for him... Genesis always wanted to do his best, without help if it was possible.

Retracing certain events of his childhood in his mind, he realized that it was around the time he had formed his friendship with the gentle giant (even as a child, Angeal had been over several inches taller than the other boys their age) that his parents had started paying attention to him. He sniffed. As if they were afraid that he would be "corrupted" by the poorest kid in town. It was quite the opposite, the boy’s values had rubbed off on him, offering the taste of hard work done by oneself. Genesis especially regretted that Angeal hadn’t been able to share the credit of the Banora White Juice that he had created as a child. He had been the only one to receive the award, despite his protests. The redhead wondered if his parents were behind that, before shaking his head wearily.

Even if that were the case... too much water had flowed under the bridge now. No need to dwell on it. And he had stood firm in his friendship with Angeal, refusing to be separated from him. The opposite had been equally true, the black haired man having refused to be separated from his first true friend. There had been ups and downs, of course, and sometimes violent arguments, but they had always been reconciled, sometimes having let a few days go by so that the redhead's temper calmed down. But they had always been there for each other, Angeal when Genesis' parents weren't paying attention to him, and himself for his friend when his father literally killed himself to pay off the loan that he had contracted to pay for his son's huge sword when he entered SOLDIER.

Despite protests from his friend, Genesis had insisted on finishing paying the debt. Gillian and her husband… took more care of him as a child than his own parents, and he didn't want anything to happen to her because she had worked too hard to finish paying for the sword. Without counting the funeral of her husband. He still wasn’t entirely certain that Mr. Hewley was Angeal's biological father, but had never brought up the point. He could very well take more after his mother than from his father. And he really had been a father to his friend.

Shaking his head, he returned to sit at his desk. The paperwork was an endless stream, he said to himself with exasperation, staring at the stacks with disgust.

Genesis continued to work as usual for the next few weeks, but still kept an attentive ear for gossip, snickering with amusement as he heard people speculate about why he seemed to have his head often elsewhere, but also why he had stopped flirting with everything that moved. He couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from pulling down when he heard it, though. And it wasn't like he could give an explanation.

He had always liked going out with all the women (or men for that matter) he could seduce, but for the past few months... he had almost stopped. Or even totally, he thought, running his hand through his hair, ignoring the secretaries who were whispering as they tried to get his attention. He had always hated sycophants, and trying to shamelessly flatter him was one of the surest ways to get a fireball to the face. He could see that people were nervous around him, obviously afraid that he would explode from one moment to the next due to sexual frustration, but he couldn’t convince himself to sleep with the first come as before.

Before, he could sleep with women (or men, he was openly bisexual, even if it was not really advertised by the company) for a one night stand without problem (even if he often had to go see Angeal or one of the other 1st Classes afterwards to be really satisfied). For the past few months... he always had a feeling of unease, even if he got along well with the SOLDIER, except when he had sex with Angeal. And it ruined the act so much that he had almost completely stopped. It was only with Angeal that he could achieve some satisfaction without feeling like he was cheating on someone. And that’s what was driving him mad. He always loved sex without attachment or consequence, so  _ why _ did he feel like that now?

And that was without counting the concern he felt for Flower. Even if they continued to bicker with each other in their discussions/dreams... they had at least concluded a truce, and avoided talking about hero status as much as possible. Genesis was even beginning to wonder if his dream shouldn’t be overhauled… with Flower’s help. At least, if she could survive her year, he thought, pursing his lips.  _ How _ could they have decided to revive this competition (apparently canceled due to the excessive number of deaths), knowing that the murderer of her parents was still in the wild? But apparently everyone thought he was dead. Only Flower's school headmaster believed otherwise, but the others preferred to play Chocobos and refused to do anything against the latter's servants. Supposedly they were exemplary members of the community! Genesis wanted to snort with contempt. Just because they had money, they thought they were above the law... much like President Shinra, he realized sharply.

And he shared Flower's pessimism about her being entered in this tournament against her will. Given how lucky she was... it was an absolute certainty, apparently. She had done some research, and hoped it would do the trick to avoid being treated as a pariah, like in her second year. Shaking his head, he applied a final coat of paint to the drawing he was making. Still Fair, but this time trying to ride a Chocobo without taming it first. Angeal had looked so desperate that day that Genesis had laughed until his ribs hurt. He had really needed it, honestly, especially after the dream where he had seen/lived the scene in which the walrus had literally  _ throw _ Flower in the cupboard which served as her "bedroom". The redhead sometimes suspected Fair of doing the idiot on purpose when he wasn’t in a good mood, just to make him laugh. And if that wasn’t the case... he had a great sense of timing to his mischief when he made them.

Shaking his head, he put away his materials, letting the drawing to dry on his desk. He would put it away when the paint had dried... and speaking of that, he was still going to have to reorder somes, he thought, checking the color tubes. He had struggled to achieve the precise shade of purple in the kid's eyes, a very light amethyst color, and had used more than half the tubes of red and blue.

With a sigh, he stood up, taking off his clothes and folding them carefully. He liked things to be ordered a minimum in his bedroom and bathroom (and how he had been surprised to discover that the apartment had a bathroom for each room, although given the frequency with which Sephiroth’s shower got out of order, it wasn’t a bad thing), without it being at the silverette level. The latter stored everything to the nearest millimeter, or almost, the redhead could have sworn it. One of the unspoken rules between them was that everyone managed their room as they wished, and that they were taking turns for the common areas.

Genesis quickly showered, and went to bed without bothering to put on any underwear. Most of the time, he was sleeping in his underwear, but he didn't feel like it that night. Genesis was also a light sleeper, which annoyed him when he went on a mission with the infantry... even if the latter had quickly learned that it was better to avoid making too much noise when the Scarlet Commander was sleeping. It was a sure way to be bombarded with fireballs.

Genesis quickly fell asleep, thinking about what Flower had told him about her second year of school. _ How _ could a Midgar Zolom have strolled around a school without anyone noticing?

oOo

_ Genesis blinked in disbelief at the spectacle before him. _

_ Half a dozen children were in the room, and if he trusted the decor, it was probably a rather old-fashioned infirmary. The children were all lying on beds, but Genesis had a hard time figuring out what was wrong with them. They didn’t look hurt. And why did they stay in these strange positions? It must have been so uncomfortable for them! He almost felt like he was in a bad horror movie, and he hated that genre. _

_ He noticed that he was sitting next to a bushy-haired girl, and wondered why she was so familiar, before realizing that it was Flower's friend, the little budding scholar. She was as rigid as the others, and the redhead realized when hearing the nurse that she was petrified, but that the potion made from... Mandrakes? Will apparently be ready soon. Genesis would have loved to know more, but apparently neither Flower nor her red-haired friend had more details. _

_ He noticed the sheet of paper clenched in the kid's fist before Flower did, and quietly encouraged her when she began to try to free it, wincing many times when he thought she was going to tear the page. Finally, she managed to free it, and began to read it in a low voice, to Genesis’ relief. He was unable to read what was written on the sheet visibly torn from a book, and it was driving him crazy. The name of the creature blocked too, but only the description gave him chills. A snake capable of killing with its eyes? It looked like one of Hojo’s creations. _

_ He listened to the discussion carefully, still frowning. A monster like this who has been wandering around the school for a millennium, and no one has noticed anything? Even when it had killed someone half a century earlier? He had serious suspicions about the school headmaster. And the teachers were really useless, he said to himself angrily a moment later, attending the discussion in the teachers' room. Especially the blond dumbass. He understood better now why Flower didn't like him. More incompetent than that... there was hardly anything but Palmer. And even. Even Palmer wasn’t that incompetent. _

_ He couldn't help the sadistic laughter that escaped him when the other teachers made sure he had no choice but to go face the beast himself. Even though he knew, from Flower, that he had tried to flee. _

_ A furious frown escaped him in front of the funeral atmosphere of the tower, when Flower and her friend returned there. Especially from the other redheads. What was this Pureblood bullshit? Genesis made a mental note to talk to her about it one day, if he could figure out how to bring it into the discussion without telling her that he had witnessed some of her memories from her point of view. _

_ Genesis would have gladly let them know the bottom of his thought, however, when they decided to go out to see their teacher... who gave him all the impression of being a coward. An impression that turned out more than true in front of their discussion, and he pursed his lips. The coward's apologies made him want to make him meet Rapier… very, very closely. And knowing that he was erasing people's memories to take credit for their exploits... he understood now that Flower hadn't supported him. Genesis could at least be proud of the fact that his fame was due almost entirely to his own actions, and that he was not a coward ready to flee when he faced real danger like him. _

_ He couldn't help but cheerfully applaud Flower and her friend when they disarmed the idiot, despite his frustration that he couldn't understand the incantation. An act of magic that was both admirable and seemingly commonplace enough for children to learn. He couldn’t restrain the sadistic laugh again, seeing that the two children had decided to use him as a human shield. That was all he was good for, obviously. _

_ The ghost, on the other hand, gave him the Choco-bumps. Why... would a soul refuse to return to the Lifestream? The specter’s reasons, on the other hand, made him despair. Just because this girl made fun of her, she was unable to move on? The mention of yellow eyes, on the other hand, surprised and worried him. Just like the fact that she apparently died seeing them. Was it the famous snake capable of killing with a look? _

_ He looked at the scene that followed with some puzzlement. Why was the snake on the pipe important? And why did the redhead told Flower that she had spoken normally? Genesis shivered when he saw that the snake seemed to move in the light of the torches... before being left speechless when the sink turned on itself in a white glow, revealing a passage large enough to let an adult pass. He snickered again at the two children’s actions. The idea of using this coward as a canary against danger was a well-deserved revenge. _

_ He groaned mentally in disgust, however, at the state of the pipe into which they jumped without hesitation following the idiot. Ewww... how long has it been since it was last cleaned??? Genesis wasn’t necessarily obsessed with cleaning, but some things didn’t change for most people. And such a level of dirt would make anyone want to wash immediately afterwards! Although there, it seemed difficult. _

_ The smell was certainly horrible, but he could understand that they had something else in mind, and that it was the least of their worries. The tunnel was dark and damp, making the redhead wonder how deep they could be. Far, anyway. Probably between two and three hundred meters deep perhaps... and certainly far from the castle too. The faint glow created by the wands made the atmosphere even more scary than it already was, especially by distorting their shadows. The noises were also amplified, and the sound of water dripping in a corner accentuated the atmosphere of horror movie… magnified by the skeletons of dead animals lying on the ground. Genesis was really starting to get the chill with this story, especially when they fell on a giant snake skin around a curve. _

_ The creature must already have exceeded twenty meters when it had moulted, easily, he said to himself, comparing the size of the moult with Flower's companions. Before insulting the blond coward who had attacked the redhead, grabbing his wand. And to want to burn him alive when he saw him boast, boasting that he would write his next bestseller on the  _ death  _ of children! _

_ He didn't understand the spell the idiot used, but felt his heart skip a beat when the boy's wand literally exploded in his hands, causing the tunnel to collapse. Fortunately, Flower had good reflexes, and ran off in the opposite direction the second it exploded. After the collapse had stopped, he heard her call for news of her friend, and sighed with relief when the latter replied, sounding shaken but unharmed. He let out a sadistic laugh at the idiot's cry of pain, as if the redhead had kicked him in the shin to verify that he was still alive. Flower exchanged a few words with her friend, deciding to go on while the boy cleared the landslide. Genesis felt her hesitate for a few seconds, probably wanting to stay to wait for her friend, despite the fact that he was now disarmed, before setting off. _

_ The redhead who was looking at the scene with her eyes could understand her reasoning. If the kidnapped girl was in danger of death, every lost second reduced her chances of survival. He could imagine, however, her condition in the tunnel, now that she was alone. The door in front of which she finally arrived made him whistle slightly admiring, especially in front of the detail of the snakes engraved on it. The emeralds set in place of their eyes were probably worth a fortune, he thought absently, each stone having to be the size of Angel's fist, easy. _

_ He would have bet his pay that the gleam of the emerald eyes flickered when Flower cleared her throat, and if he ever met her, he would give her his most respectful congratulations in front of her courage. In a corner of his mind, he absently wondered if he shouldn't have his earring changed to gold, to pay homage to the colors of her school house. A shiver ran through his back when the snakes parted at her command, opening the door without a sound. _

_ The room she entered while shaking like a leaf, was even more disturbing than the tunnel Flower had been in before. The columns around which other snakes were wrapped were lost in a ceiling made invisible by the semi-darkness of the room, just lit by torches burning with a green light, to his greatest perplexity. How could these torches still burn, if they were a millennium old? He ended up deciding that it was probably thanks to magic, and especially that it had nothing to do with her current situation. _

_ The statue at the back was absolutely hideous, causing him to sniff contemptuously... before stifling a curse seeing the kid lying on the ground at the feet of the said statue. He would have said two words to her about dropping her weapon, but he knew that Flower was still a child, and one who hadn’t been trained in the art of war. So it wasn’t surprising that she would react like any child in these situations, especially when a friend (possibly?) was lying unconscious on the ground. _

_ The older teenager who suddenly appeared out of nowhere startled him, before frowning at his appearance. Like looking at him through steam in a foggy bathroom, or something like that. In any case, his apparition and appearance were already worrisome, but his speech was even more so. And above all… how could he know so much about Flower? The blocked names made him half mad with frustration, mostly because it deprived him of much of the context he needed to fully understand the conversation. And what he said about the unconscious kid... Genesis would have strangled him. Manipulate a child? Use them to commit crimes? All this for what? _

_ His eyes narrowed when he started talking about Flower’s parents, among other things. And what he did... not just to his parents, but to other people. The gratuitous and evil cruelty he displayed... He thought that only Hojo and Hollander were like that... or, in any case, as bad. Even if, according to rumors, Hojo was by far the worst. And the way he boasted of draining the redhead's energy... like her life didn't matter to him. And why was he so obsessed with Flower?  _ Why  _ did he want to know how she apparently would have defeated her parents’ murderer? _

_ He swore heartily in his mind when the teenager wrote something in letters of fire, before rearranging them.  _ Why  _ couldn't he read their handwriting, even though they apparently spoke the same language?!? And what was this kid's problem with his parents? Why has he such a grudge after his father, even though he apparently abandoned his mother before his birth? Genesis wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that he had murdered his own father, honestly, or even his grandparents. _

_ He could only applaud Flower's courage and loyalty, however, when she refused to bow down before this sadist. The repulsive face he exhibited at her words gave him a bad feeling, but the song that rose a few seconds later left him speechless. _

_ Flower's gaze rose, visibly seeking the source of the song. Genesis’s breath caught in his throat when he saw the good-sized bird emerging from behind a pillar, like a spray of flame. About the size of a swan, mainly scarlet in color with flight feathers and its long tail, similar to that of a peacock, gold in color, the bird made him furiously think of Phoenix, the fire type Summon which could resuscitate those who had recently died. Was he related? The song, in any case, resounded in Flower’s chest, it was so powerful, and Genesis felt like his hair stood on end. _

_ The bird suddenly dove to perch on the little girl’s shoulder, surprisingly light despite its size, dropping a ball of rags at her feet. The redhead let out a whistle at the size of the animal's golden beak, and his talons of the same color weren’t outdone, he noted in a corner of his mind. He groaned when the name of the bird (phoenix?) was blocked, frustrated.  _ Why _ were names blocked? What purpose did it serve? _

_ He nearly missed the rest of the action, barely paying attention to their next exchange, but fortunately got out of his thoughts on time. He would gladly have done a facepalm in front of the theatrical side of the serpent's appearance... if he hadn't been busy trying not to pissing himself in terror when he could finally see the serpent in question. The creature was indeed the size of a Midgar Zolom... only the hood missing. The fangs more than made up for it, however, he told himself when he saw the reptile trying to target the Phoenix. Its jaws bristling with sharpened hooks like razor blades only brushed against the bird, which suddenly plunged. The snake's hiss of pain told him that the Phoenix had managed to hurt his opponent, which was proved a moment later when he turned towards Flower. _

_ The bloody orbits almost made him wince in sympathy for the animal... if he hadn't been trying to kill his friend. Because yes, he ended up considering Flower as a friend. Caustic, bitter and suspicious, but a loyal friend despite everything. And see her fight like this for her life... Genesis would have had two words to say to her school Headmaster. How was it possible that children were endangered EVERY fucking years?!? _

_ She managed to dodge the snake’s tail, plunging behind a pillar when it dived in her direction, blinded but still deadly. The bird kept singing, the sound both scary and encouraging. Genesis saw it keep trying to distract the monster, fluttering around its head and pecking it at times. _

_ Flower had just dodged the snake again when she took a ball of tissue to the face, and the redhead realized that it was the kind of witch hat that the Phoenix had brought her a little earlier. He watched her take it with some astonishment, and even more so when she put it on her head, begging someone to help her. But nothing to do with the surprise he felt when the hat contracted, as if a giant hand had squeezed it, dropping something heavy on Flower's head, nearly knocking her out. He felt her tear the hat off, probably hit senseless, and blinked, incredulous, seeing the  _ hilt _ of a sword protruding from the hat opening. _

_ She took it in a heartbeat, and Genesis couldn’t suppress a cringe at the way she was holding the weapon. His perfectionist side wanted to scream at the mediocrity with which she wielded it, while the realistic side was quite impressed at the fact that she didn’t do so badly for someone who has never touched a sword before. And her courage in front of the giant snake… Genesis could only respect her. She clearly knew that her chances of winning were almost non existent, and yet... she was ready to fight. _

_ He couldn't restrain the horrified cry, however, when the snake rushed straight towards them, only the knowledge that Flower had survived keeping him from panicking. He had a very good view of the snake’s mouth full of fine, sharp teeth like sabers, as well as the thin arms of Flower wielding the sword, far too flashy and tacky for him. Oh, it had a certain elegance, certainly, but... really not to his liking. Rapier was much, much better from his point of view. _

_ Flower managed to dodge it the first time, the head of the blind snake hitting the wall with a hiss of frustration. She dodged a second time, the forked tongue of the reptile slashing her in passing, like a wet whip. Then she grabbed the sword, holding it firmly with both hands above her head. The snake attacked again... and just aimed right this time. Genesis felt Flower thrust the sword with all her might into the snake's palate, piercing its brain in passing... the sensation accompanied by a fountain of blood and dazzling pain, just above the elbow. One of the long poisonous fang was buried deep in her flesh and snapped when the snake tilt and fell to the side, the body agitated with convulsions. _

_ Genesis saw Flower collapse against the wall, watching her tear the poisonous hook from her arm, causing a spray of blood. But he could feel it was already too late for that, a burning pain spreading across the poor child's body. She dropped the fang to the floor, her gaze continuing to stare at the stain of blood that he could vaguely see spread on her robe. Her vision, already mediocre, deteriorated even more, the cave becoming more and more blurred. A rustle of wings caught his attention, and he felt her lift her head with effort, her eyes falling on the Phoenix, which looked more or less like a big red blob at that moment. _

_ Genesis would have liked to have had a Materia with Esuna on him at that moment in time, even knowing that this event had happened a year earlier. Hearing her sound so weak when she thanked the Phoenix... drove him crazy. He watched the bird rest its head on her wound, the large pearly gray tears falling from its eyes, rolling over the glistening scarlet feathers before touching the wound. Genesis had already lost his life once or twice during the Wutai War, and owed his survival only to his Revive Materia. The experience hadn’t been pleasant, however, even if his obsession with the crystallized orbs led him to bring them to Master Level as soon as possible. But to see Flower die? When she was so young? Revive Materia or not… it was still awful. _

_ The redhead had paid little attention to Flower’s enemy’s words, too worried about her… until he realized that Flower was getting better, and he scared the bird away. Genesis felt immense relief when he learned that his intuition was right, and that the scarlet bird was indeed a Phoenix. He had heard the legends about these majestic mythical creatures, not just about the Summon of the same name. The wound was now covered with a thin shiny layer... well, the place where the wound had been located so far. He could see the scar that was there now, but the wound itself had closed. _

_ Suddenly, a rustling of wings rose just above Flower... before a small diary fell on her lap. Genesis noticed the way the older boy's eyes widened in a mixture of shock and panic... just before Flower grabbed the fang that had pierced her arm and stabbed it in the diary, without hesitating for a second, to his amazement. There was a long piercing howl, a terrifying howl. A stream of ink gushed from the book with big bubbles and trickled over Flower's hands, surprising the redhead. The teenager was now writhing on the ground, waving his arms in vain, screaming with all his last strength. And suddenly… _

_ He disappeared. Flower's wand fell to the ground, then there was silence. You could only hear the faint and steady noise of the ink continuing to drip from the diary. The venom of the giant snake had made a hole in the little black book, burning the pages right through. Apparently, the snake's venom was even more powerful than he thought, Genesis realized. And it was nothing to say it. _

_ Her whole body trembling, Flower got up. Her first reflex was to pocket the objects close to her, namely her wand, the fang she still had in her hand, and the little black book. Then recover the sword used to kill the snake, of course. The next was to approach the little girl who was more or less her age, and Genesis hoped that she was still alive. _

_ Fortunately, that was the case, the redhead stirring as she approached. Bursting into tears as soon as she was coherent enough. Babbling about what she had done, and fearful of being expelled from school. Flower did her best to calm her down, but he could see that she was exhausted herself, and wanted only one thing, to sleep. A long while, if possible. Finally, she calmed down enough for Flower to help her get up and turn around, leaving the absolutely creepy room from the Scarlet Commander point of view and the famous corpse of the giant snake that she had told him about during their first conversation. _

_ The Phoenix was waiting for them at the entrance of the cave, adding the light it produced to that of Flower's wand, and accompanied them into the tunnel, its presence reassuring and comforting. Finally, the two girls arrived at the cave in, and Flower called her friend, ensuring him of his sister (at least, he assumed it was his sister, they looked alike enough to confirm the suspicion of family relationship) life and that she was fine. The boy's cry of relief confirmed his suspicion, especially when his relieved face appeared in the opening he had dug in the collapse. He held out his arms and helped his sister pass, trying to hug her next, visibly happy that she was still alive. _

_ The latter pushed him away, however, sobbing violently, and Genesis could understand why. She had just had a particularly traumatic experience, and he hoped that she had received psychological help. Really. He mentally howled in laughter, however, realizing that the idiot who made a living by appropriating the exploits of others after having erased their memory... was now an amnesiac fool who had been very lucky to remember the necessary things to live... like breathing for example. _

_ Genesis continued to snickers at this return of karma, needing to laugh after the stressful events that had just occurred, while the three children and the useless adult went back the opposite way until reaching the kind of sticky slide that they had hurtled down before. After talking for a few moments about how they were going to get out, Flower noticed that the Phoenix was fluttering in front of them, waving his tail feathers, as if to encourage them to grab onto them. She took matters into her own hands, making them cling to each other before taking hold of the long golden feathers. _

_ Genesis was speechless as the Phoenix took flight, carrying them down the stinking pipe until they finally arrived in the bathroom they entered. He barely had time to see the sink go back into place before the dream ended, much to his frustration. _

oOo

Genesis suddenly sat up in bed, like a devil coming out of his box, gasping and covered in cold sweat. It took several seconds before he realized he was awake, and ran his hand over his face, letting out a trembling sigh. He thought he knew a number of things about Flower, between what she had told him and what he had seen for himself in his dreams/memories... but that was more than that. And calling that episode he just watched "a little snake problem"... was like calling a Behemoth a big dog. An understatement so disproportionate that it became ridiculous, especially considering the danger it posed.

A look upon his clock snatched a groan from him. Too early to get up, but too late to go back to sleep before the alarm rings. Grumbling annoyingly, he got up anyway. The images dancing in his mind made him too nervous to want to laze in bed, as he usually did when it happened to him. His gaze fell to his desk and the drawing still on it, and he knew what he was going to do while he waited for breakfast.

Once washed and dressed (minus his iconic coat), he sat down at his desk, taking out his drawing materials. Selecting a pencil after consulting his range of choices, he slowly began to sketch the snake, the worst. From what he could assess Flower’s size in relation to himself, and considering the difference between them, especially taking into account the fact that she was younger at the time... he assessed the size of the snake at all just ten meters less than that of a teenager Midgar Zolom. Or a good thirty meters long. Largely large enough to swallow a twelve year old child. And those fangs… Genesis shivered as he drew them. Each of them was the length of Flower’s arm, from fingertips to shoulder. And the eyes... he was relieved to not know what they looked like, in a way. The "kills with a look" part added to the terrifying side of the animal... even if the part on of the rooster song which would be deadly, seemed to him more folklore than anything else.

After finishing the basic snake sketch, Genesis was already feeling a little better, having put down some of the horror he had witnessed on paper. He would have liked to be able to do the Phoenix too, but a glance at the time told him that he didn’t have time. Grunting in frustration, he finished roughing up the drawing, adding a few details, before placing it in the drawing binder reserved for the unfinished.

He then entered the kitchen, where he met an already awaken Sephiroth... a folder next to him. The redhead shivered at the sight. He had compassion for the silverette, whose workload forced him to bring some back to the apartment to work there early in the morning, and sometimes late at night, when he couldn’t stay in his main office. Just for that, Genesis didn't want his job. Briefly, he wondered how Sephiroth was doing. In his place, Genesis would have already cracked long ago, so his friend had all his compassion.

The rest of the day... was honestly quite trying from his point of view. Fortunately, Angeal was the only one to note that he wasn’t behaving quite as usual, sincerely terrorizing (more or less) innocent cadets instead of those who really pushed things too far. He had calmed down when his childhood friend remarked it to him... before starting again a few minutes later when he left to take care of the puppy.  _ Seriously… couldn't he stay with me? _ Genesis wondered, unable to hold back a fit of jealousy. The younger cadets were traumatized even longer than the average, but he couldn't convince himself to worry about them. And honestly, as some instructors said, if they weren't traumatized, then they hadn't learned anything.

Genesis let out a sigh of relief as he finally returned to the apartment. He might be sociable... there were days when his tolerance was extremely low, and when a small thing was enough to make him explode. And when Angeal was not there to play the buffer... it usually ended badly. It was almost a miracle that no cadet ended up in the infirmary this time. But whatever they may say about him… he still had enough control not to throw fireballs at a cadet who had not received enhancements… even if it was not the desire that made him itchy for it, sometimes.

Sighing, he removed his coat as he entered his room. He needed to relax... and sex wouldn't do the trick right now, not until he calmed down a bit first. And above all... the Puppy was still there. Until he was in bed, Genesis had no plans to go to Angeal to deal with his frustration. However... he had an unfinished drawing he wanted to finish, and another one he wanted to start before forgetting the majesty of the bird.

The Scarlet Mage quickly lost himself in the gestures necessary to draw, his mind relaxing despite the rather terrifying subject he was lying on paper. Finally, Genesis put down the brush he had used to ink the snake's drawing, frowning, taking a look at the colors he'd taken out of the drawing case. Unfortunately, the low brightness in the dream (coupled with Flower's apparent poor vision) meant that he was unsure of the exact color of the reptile's scales. He was almost certain that they were green in color, however, mostly because of the molt the teenage girl had encountered in the tunnel. The creature itself he was less certain, especially because of the light there was in the cave where she had faced it. The eyes, impossible to know their appearance with certainty, since looking at them apparently led to immediate death. However, according to the ghost, they would be golden.

Shrugging, he began to prepare the colors. He had to start over several times, making the green more or less dark, before deciding on a shade of emerald green. The color of the eyes was faster, being a simple gold, and it took longer to decide on the shape of the pupils. Round or slit like Sephiroth's? He ended up making up his mind to be slit, mostly because he was poisonous (and apparently violent). He delicately painted the snake, taking care to underline every nuance he had guessed in the scales, even if he hadn’t been able to clearly see them, guided by an instinct which he was unaware of.

Finally, he straightened up after a last stroke of the brush, contemplating the drawing with satisfaction. One or two areas may have required him to return, but for the moment he was going to let it dry.

Putting the paint away for the moment to save space, he took out a blank sheet of paper and began to sketch. Each stroke of the pencil made the muscles in his shoulders relax, without him knowing why, the tension making him feel like it was being drained from his body. Delicately, he sketched the feathers of the scarlet and gold bird, completely indifferent to the outside world. He didn't even pay attention to Angeal calling him to eat, or poking his head in the doorway to check if he was there. The man shook his head at the sight as he withdrew, noting to leave something for Genesis when he was done.

The redhead's attention was completely on what he was drawing, each feather a marvel of details. When he finished the preliminary sketch, Genesis studied it carefully to make sure nothing was missing. He then took out the paints, relieved that the colors were rather solid, without too many problematic nuances. With his tongue poking at the corner of his mouth, he delicately began to paint the body, a deep red, saving the golden parts for later.

Carefully, he smeared ink on certain lines to accentuate them, coloring the eyes black. Then he took care of the golden feathers, tilting his head under the effect of concentration by painting the tail feathers. They were really long, almost as long as the rest of the body. Maybe even more, he thought, comparing with a critical eye.

Finally, Genesis put down his brush, and leaned himself against the back of his chair, contemplating his drawing with some satisfaction. He found that he had been rather faithful in his reproduction of the Phoenix in mid-flight, managing to capture his majesty on the sheet. Something vaguely tugged at him, however. Not unpleasantly, not really. But he didn't really understand  _ why _ he felt such… attraction to this mythical bird. Why it was so important in his mind.

His train of thought was brutally cut off when his stomach gurgled loudly, surprising him. Raising his head, he realized with some surprise that night had fallen... and that the light was on, when he didn’t even remember getting up to flip the switch. Suspecting that Angeal must have stopped by dinner time to see why he wasn’t coming, Genesis stood up, cracking his joints with a grimace. Leaning on a paper sheet for so long wasn’t really good for his back, he told himself as he made his way silently to the kitchen. Angeal and Zack must have been in bed for a long time, he knew it from the time. And he too should have gone to bed a while ago, he thought to himself with a grimace, taking out the sandwiches that his friend had left him. He would have really preferred something hot, but the noise of the microwave would wake up Sephiroth, who certainly had just gone to bed, he told himself while contemplating the dishes drying on the drip tray.

With a silent sigh, he ate quickly, cleaning the plate by the way. Genesis quickly got ready to go to bed, counting the days in his head, and realizing that this night was one of those he would speak with Flower. And if he wasn’t mistaken, it was the evening when, precisely, the so-called impartial judge was going to choose the champions in this damn tournament.

He growled angrily at this. What idiot was trying to revive a deadly tournament where children had already died in it? We were no longer in the gladiators days! Grumbling in a low voice with annoyance, he turned to the side, trying to fall asleep. If only he could protect Flower…

oOo

_ Genesis frowned at the dream atmosphere. Dark and windy, almost stormy, it perfectly matched Flower's state of mind, from what he could feel. She was leaning against his back, both tense and shoulders slumped, as if she was disillusioned. And that made him angry. _

_ “You okay?” He asked anyway. _

_ “No,” she growled in response. “My life stinks of shit.” _

_ He sniffed with some irony. _

_ “Things didn't go the way you wanted, right?” _

_ She let out a bitter laugh. _

_ “And the ocean is wet. Do you have other stupid euphemisms of the same kind?” She asked, somewhat aggressive. _

_ Genesis made no comment on her tone, however, partly understanding why she was like that. Getting into a deadly tournament against one's will was enough to stress the calmest person… and Flower already had a fairly stressful life like that. Besides, she had a surprisingly sweet nature the rest of the time, despite the bitterness she felt. She sighed at that moment, suddenly sounding tired and worn. _

_ “I'm sorry,” she said, her tone exhausted. “I know I shouldn’t take it out on you. It's just that…” _

_ “You had a horrible evening, didn't you?” He asked gently. _

_ He felt her nod her behind her, and raise her arm, presumably to rub her eyes. Really, he would have liked to hug her to comfort her. Finally, after a few weeks, he managed to convince her to call him something other than "Mr. Apples and Smoke" or "Mr. Apple Pie" (even if she had joked that he was really tart sometimes). A name related to fire suited him much better, frankly, regardless of whether it was the odor she smelled in the dream. He was drawn from his reflections by her weary sigh. _

_ “I hate this date. As I expected, I was chosen to be the fourth "champion," she replied bitterly. “Of course, everyone was convinced that I wanted more glory and fame. As if I was not famous enough with my parents’ murder!” She declared, raising her arms to the sky, furious and bitter. _

_ He shook his head in sorrow, his mind drifting briefly towards Sephiroth. Why did he see parallels between them? He wondered, frowning, before forcing himself to focus on the presence behind his back again. At the same time so small and fragile... but with a will of steel, refusing to give in. Sometimes, he had seen, she bent, but never broke. _

_ “And the oath?” Genesis asked, remembering what she said the last time. _

_ She sighed, letting herself go against his back once more. _

_ “I  _ could _ swear I didn't enter my name in that damn Cup myself, but... the old schnock who runs my school tried to stop me. Fortunately, I was able to finish. And people seemed to believe me. As a precaution, I also swore in front of the real champions and their headmasters too.” _

_ He nodded, slightly satisfied. It was already that. _

_ “And now?” Asked the redhead. “What are you going to do, Flower?” _

_ Genesis felt her press her head against his back, making him feel like she was looking at the gray sky. _

_ “Train to face a dragon,” she grumbled. _

_ “Sorry?” Asked the redhead in an incredulous tone, wondering if he had heard correctly. “You are telling me that you are going to have to face  _ what _ ?!?” _

_ He felt her snickers, half-amused half-bitter. _

_ “A fucking dragon, yes. You heard right, Kasai.” _

_ Honestly, he didn't know if he should get angry or desperate at such stupidity. Seriously, her people were completely stupid or just cruel?!? We were past the days of gladiators facing monsters with just a weapon or Materia for a long time now! The furious rant that escaped him made Flower laugh, especially at the inventiveness with which he cursed them. Secretly, he was glad to hear her laugh like that, more amused than bitter, which was why he went on longer than he would have, using all his creativity to cheer her up. _

_ Finally, he ran out of steam, and fell silent. The silence stretched, but this time it was more friendly than uneasy. He felt her sigh after a while, before she spoke to him. _

_ “I suppose you don't have an idea to help me out?” She asked wearily, sounding much older than the fourteen years old she was supposed to be. “Because the only plan that I can implement involves using my broom to try to convince the dragon to lift herself long enough on her hind legs to snatch the golden egg placed in the middle of her brood. And as spectacular as it is, I am not foolish enough to try to challenge an apex predator in her chosen field, namely the sky.” _

_ Her words briefly left him speechless, shocked by the sheer stupidity of the wizards, before he resumed fuming at them. His rant lasted even longer than the previous one, largely because he was so mad with rage at these assholes. And this time, there was no comedy to make it continue, he was sincerely furious with the idiots who organized that. Nesting Mothers? But even the  _ Puppy _ wasn’t stupid enough to disturb them! Any idiot on Gaia knew that a nesting mother dragon was the most dangerous thing in the world! _

_ Flower remained silent, patiently waiting for him to finish, snickering from time to time at a particularly well-formed insult, until he managed to calm down. Seriously, if he hadn't been afraid to set his bedroom on fire in his sleep, he would have been happy to throw fireballs in all directions. Just to pass his nerves on something. _

_ He made a mental note to go and let off steam in a VR room when he woke up, and above all to set it to the maximum simulation level. He really needed to let off steam on something… and charring Behemoths sounded very attractive at that moment. _

_ After a while, he managed to regain his composure, albeit with difficulty. An idea crossed his mind, lighting the proverbial light bulb in his mind. Why not teach her his preferred method to deal with hecklers? _

_ “Flower, how about learning my favorite method for dealing with people who piss you off?” Genesis asked, an evil smile stretching his lips. _

_ He felt the teenager tilt her head to the side, visibly intrigued. _

_ “Does it also work with dragons?” She asked, her tone curious and interested. _

_ “Ooooooh yes,” he replied without trying to hide the sadism in his voice. _

_ “In that case, I'm all ears,” she replied, her tone reflecting his. _

_ In response, Genesis created a fireball, causing it to float in circles around them. Flower’s “ohhhhhh” both admiring and marveling sincerely pleased him, especially when she spoke again: _

_ “Okay, I want to know how to do this. Does it also work on old goats or albino ferrets?” _

_ Genesis snickered softly, and how terrified those who knew him would have been to know that he had contaminated someone with his pyromania. His smile was bloodthirsty when he replied: _

_ “Of course, this is very useful in deterring unwanted people from disturbing you. Personally, I really like to call this little game "Dodge fireballs," and it does wonders for teaching cadets how to dodge. Besides, thanks to that, people don’t bother you unless it’s really important.” _

_ “How do you do that?” She asked with fascination as he stopped the fireball in front of her with a thought. _

_ “Well... you have to... "flow", I would say, your magic into your palm,” he began to explain. _

_ Genesis spent the rest of the dream teaching her how to make fireballs, very amused at the idea of her launching flaming spheres at those who annoyed her. He hoped to be able to witness this in one of his future dreams/memories. It would make him laugh... as long as it wasn’t facing the dragon. _

oOo

Genesis opened an eye when his alarm clock rang, supremely annoyed. Seriously... why did it have to be set to such a strident ringtone? He wondered annoyingly, turning off the alarm clock. It twisted his ears every time!

Annoyed, he got up and dressed quickly. At least today he didn't have to shower to remove the layer of cold sweat. He pursed his lips angrily as he thought about that. Poor Flower... almost died that time. And from what he understood, it wasn’t the first time that it had happened... and it would certainly not be the last, considering what was going to happen this year, he said to himself as he passed a hand in his hair in frustration.

Unable to stay still, he began to walk back and forth in his room, unable to sit for more than a few seconds. A look at his drawing table made him shake his head angrily. Drawing usually appeased him... but not today. The idea that a  _ child under the age of fifteen _ should be forced to face a nesting mother dragon made him want to tear his hair out.  _ Who _ was crazy and cruel enough to do that? Even if, according to her, the other participants were all adults according to the laws of their country... it was a planned murder. Nothing else to say on this point.

Genesis could thank the fact that there was no mission scheduled today, he would have been unable to concentrate. At the ends of his nerves, he decided to take extreme measures and left the apartment, struggling against the urge to slam the door, not wanting to wake Angeal. Stepping forward, he ignored the employees who were hurrying out of his way, staring at him with concern at his frustrated expression.  _ Everyone _ knew that when Genesis was in a bad mood, you had to avoid talking to him and especially to block his path. New hires were warned of his bad temper upon hiring, especially if their job could get them to work with him. And if they chose to ignore the warnings... well, it always made a job vacancy.

Entering the VR room, he slammed the door behind him, approaching the terminal and hammering the keys in search of the simulation he wanted. Launching it, he watched a King Behemoth appear with dark pleasure. The golden brown beast roared defiantly, about to attack, and the redhead raised his sword, ready to fight.

If someone had witnessed the scene at that precise moment, he would have felt pity for the beast, despite the fact that it is only a particularly realistic cluster of pixels. Genesis... showed no mercy, attacking with his sword as well as his magic again and again, until eventually fatigue and hunger forced him to stop.

Breathing a little forcibly, sweat running down his forehead, the redhead reluctantly deactivated the simulation, knowing that he needed to eat... and a good shower. When he got back to the apartment, he went straight to his room, undressing almost furiously before entering the shower. Letting the water run over his body, he leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and trying to regain his composure. The idea that Flower was in danger... drove him crazy to be honest. Especially because he was helpless, unable to do anything to help her. Genesis fought the urge to hit the bathroom wall, not even realizing that tears of frustration were running down his cheeks, washed away by the water before he knew it.

He eventually regained control of his emotions after a while, and finished washing quickly, more or less calm. Getting out of his shower, he quickly threw his things in the room, getting out clothes to dress. Once decent, he walked into the kitchen, knowing that Angeal was there, and that he was taking care of the meals.

Entering the room, he briefly greeted Sephiroth, who looked at the end of his rope, strangely. Genesis only got to see it because he was getting to know him well... and he felt like the silverette... was lowering his guard with them, for lack of another word. Showing his emotions more clearly than with anyone else.

The redhead was taken away from his considerations by a flyer on the table, and grabbed it with a mixture of shock and greed when he saw Loveless written at the top. Going through it quickly, he realized that it was an advertisement for a new adaptation of Loveless... the first of which would take place in the afternoon. Genesis struggled to wait until they were done eating, and literally dragged Angeal and Sephiroth with him to attend the performance.

The silverette protested furiously, saying he had too much work to be away like that, but the redhead turned a deaf ear, not letting him go until they were outside the theater. He then informed Sephiroth, without remorse, that he had to learn to let go of his work. The concerned was on the verge of strangling him when Genesis turned away and walked to the counter, ignoring the people around him, who respectfully deviated from the Scarlet Mage, knowing both his flamboyant character and his love for Loveless.

Sephiroth just wanted to tear his hair out from this situation. For once he had decided that he wanted to enjoy Angeal’s cooking instead of the cafeteria or take-out, the redhead had to take advantage of it to kidnap him. And brings him to a play, when he didn't have time for that at all! Angeal's hand landed on his shoulder, surprising him. Meeting the look of the gentle giant, he noticed his compassionate expression.

“Genesis isn’t really in a good mood today,” he says kindly. “And then when he has an idea in mind... hard to get him to change his mind. Besides... I think sharing his passion with you will make him happy and help him calm down.”

Sephiroth let out a long, heavy sigh.

“Okay, but I can assure you that he will help me deal with the paperwork that accumulated on my desk during my absence,” he grumbled. “By will or by force.”

Angeal chuckled softly, amused.

“Don't worry, I'll make sure he does.”

The silverette rubbed his hand on his face, tired and exasperated. To be honest... a break in the paperwork was welcome, especially since he felt he was in danger of cracking if only one more stupid request landed on his desk. That, plus his concern for Flower… he was on the verge of snapping. Luckily, people now seemed more interested in Genesis than in him, and he was thankful for the break. Contemplating the room around him, he could see people of all ages and backgrounds, helping him to distract himself. Despite everything, Sephiroth was amazed to see so many people for a theater play.

An ironic sniff escaped him when he saw Genesis strutting a little further, apparently delighted with the attention that was paid to him. Feeling sudden small jerking tugs on his coat, he looked down in surprise, suddenly pulled from his thoughts. His gaze fell on a little girl who couldn't have been more than four years old (maybe even just three), whose big black eyes looked at him with confident fascination, leaving him speechless. He blinked, bewildered, when the little girl smiled happily at him, babbling with a slight lisp:

“Sir, sir, you pwetty eye they weal?”

“My eyes?” He asked, puzzled, not knowing how to react.

The little girl nodded happily, her little hand not letting go of his long black coat.

“Yes, you eyes they look like kitty eyes. They weal kitty eyes?”

Sephiroth really didn't know where to put himself. Usually, children didn’t approach him, or the parents came to take their offspring brave enough to annoy him. But there, nobody did anything. He could have sworn he hear Genesis snickering in his corner in the sudden silence, but no one came to his aid. He clumsily patted the little girl on the head, fearing to harm her, while answering her kindly.

“Yes, these are my real eyes.”

The little girl giggles, visibly amused, before answering with incredible confidence:

“I will have kitty eyes like you one day too!”

Sephiroth didn't really know what to do or say, the memory of his horrible childhood experiences still haunting him. But he could hardly say that to such a young child. Instead, he just replied that he hoped she would get there someday, patting her head again. The little girl gave him a bright smile, before returning to where she came from, and Sephiroth looked after her in spite of himself, his eyes coming to rest on a woman who obviously had to be her mother, being the only Wutai woman in the room. Which seemed both terrified and disconcerted.

The mother had been frozen in horrified panic when seeing her little girl go and  _ pull _ on the famous Demon of Wutai’s black coat... who looked, at that moment, like a lost child, she realized with a certain shock. Her family had sent her news of the war in her home country, even though her parents had settled in Midgar long before it started. She was close enough to hear the discussion... and see the General so feared and hated by her people... but also respected for his sense of honor, refusing to attack innocent civilians... clumsily patting her daughter's head. Almost like he was afraid of hurting her. Her little, precious child then came back to her, hopping happily as if she had gone to talk to any other person. The mother really couldn't miss the demon's relieved expression… just like the Scarlet Mage losing the fight against his laughter in the background. Next to them, their powerful friend watched the scene with an amused, indulgent smile. Shaking his head, the giant grabbed his red-haired friend, dragging him behind him as his strangled laugh began to be heard, the General following the movement with some relief in his attitude.

Genesis couldn't help but find the situation hilarious. The terrible General Sephiroth, who did not know how to behave in front of a  _ child _ ! The combination of the scene and the play put him in a good mood for the rest of the afternoon… until his superior grabbed him by the collar when he was about to leave the elevator, snatching a cry of surprise from him at the feeling of being pulled back. Turning his head, he met the impassive look of the silverette.

“Did you really think you were going to get away with this?” He asked calmly, as Angeal walked out after pressing a button, blocking the door with its imposing mass. “No way. You made me lose several hours of work, so you better help me to make up for all this.”

Genesis was on the verge of protesting, even using Exit to escape, before realizing something. To do that would be to do what was easy, instead of doing what was right, that is, helping Sephiroth to make up for lost time by his own fault. And the idea of doing that... thinking about what Flower would say if she ever learned about it... made him honestly uncomfortable. So he didn't even struggle, obediently following his superior to his office. If the latter was surprised at the lack of protest from the redhead, he didn’t show it, and contented himself with dividing the piles of documents to give half of them to the Scarlet Mage, ignoring his disgusted grimace. The redhead, however, took on the task diligently, despite his disgust. Checking the papers and placing them on different piles (or in the document shredder) according to Sephiroth's instructions, he did his best to help his friend out of the paperwork trap in which he found himself through his fault.

Some documents required only a reading and a stamp in certain places, others required the silverette’s signature, and some, finally, went directly to destruction, because asking to send SOLDIER in missions for which they had neither the enhancements nor the capacities. He was nevertheless surprised to see that his superior didn’t even watch him work, and realized with a certain shock that he trusted him to not sabotage his work. The thought made him feel strangely humble, and he continued his work methodically, if not with pleasure.

With his help, Sephiroth was able to finish his working day at roughly the same schedule as usual, not even stopping to eat the sandwiches that Angeal had brought them around dinner. Finally, they took care of the last stacks, and Genesis let out a sigh of relief, stretching with a grimace. Without looking up from his own work, the silverette spoke to him:

“Have you learned the lesson, Genesis?”

The latter rolled his eyes as he stood up, responding calmly:

“Never interrupt your work, understood.”

“Good,” said Sephiroth with satisfaction, standing up in turn. “Let's go.”

“I still want to tell you that it is not very healthy for you to work every day,” noticed the redhead as his superior closed his office behind them, a pile of files under his arm.

The concerned snorted sarcastically.

“And who do you want me to entrust my work to?” He pointed calmly. “You? Angeal?”

Genesis winced in spite of himself.

“Honestly, I'm glad I'm not at your post. And Angeal... has enough to do with the Puppy.”

“Exactly,” Sephiroth confirmed.

They continued on their way without a word, Genesis’ mind turning and turning the situation in his head. Something... wasn’t really right in this whole story. Why not bring someone over to Sephiroth to help ease the load? It was as if... someone wanted to see him crack under the mass of work he had... because he could have sworn that he didn’t have as much work when they met each other. Admittedly, some of the documents he had seen pass were extremely sensitive... but why not train someone to assist him? Or make sure that only _ truly _ important queries end up on his desk?

The redhead continued to mull over these thoughts for the next few weeks, trying to use those thoughts to avoid thinking about what was going to happen to Flower during this damn tournament. Prepared or not (and she had confessed to him training at throwing fireballs at the slightest opportunity, gaining a more or less deserved reputation as an pyroman, to his great evil pleasure), the poor girl was almost as stressed as Sephiroth, which vaguely gave the impression of being a dragon on the verge of snapping and doing a general carnage. The only good point in this whole story was that his workload had dropped significantly, people starting to be afraid of bringing him unimportant documents, preferring to bring them to Angeal.

The redhead's gaze fell on the calendar hanging on the wall, pursed lips seeing the date. November 24. It was today that Flower had to face the dragon... which she had described as extremely dangerous, even for this species. Genesis would have had two words to say to the asshole who had found it clever to make them face  _ nesting mother dragons _ ! Seriously, were they all totally stupid or what?

Coming and going like a caged Coeurl, Genesis ends up forcing himself to lie down, knowing that he needed to sleep. Fortunately, he had managed to ask for a day off the next day, which gave him time to calm down. He knew he wouldn't talk to Flower tonight, but chances were he would see what she had been through. Turning endlessly in bed, unable to fall asleep, he ended up using meditation techniques suggested by Angeal to try to calm himself down enough to slip into sleep.

oOo

_ Genesis studied the inside of the tent he was in carefully, regretting that he couldn't look around. Still, he carefully recorded the details he could see, storing them in a corner of his mind so he could analyze them later. _

_ With her were three other teenagers, two boys and a girl. The girl, a little older than Flower, just like the two others apparently, was of an ethereal beauty which must have made many teenage boys her age turn their head, but, obviously, the two present were visibly too stressed to give her the slightest glance. He himself was left indifferent, too worried about his friend, whom he could feel almost sick with anxiety, and that was also valid for her, he realized when he saw her slightly greenish tint. The blackhaired boy had a particularly closed expression, and the brunette, if he looked stressed, smiled weakly at Flower, as if to encourage her. She answered him with a nod, starting to pace. _

_ The moron who happily entered the tent made him want to strangle him. We were talking about children who were going to face dragons, for the love of the Goddess! There was nothing joyful about it! He could sense that the teenage girl was half sick with anxiety because of the situation, so couldn't they speed things up a bit? _

_ Genesis hardly paid any attention to the idiot's speech, other than the fact that they would pass one after the other, once they had drawn the figurine representing the dragon with which they were to face. Each of the official champions seemed particularly stressed, but they, at least, had signed for it. Not Flower. A loud noise rose outside the tent, and the redhead realized that it was probably the spectators. His lip curled up in contempt. He felt as if he had gone back two centuries ago to the days of the gladiators, as the situation seemed barbaric to him. _

_ Finally, the noise subsided, and the moron handed the bag to the older girl with a cheery "ladies first!" ". She drew a small green dragon figurine, which seemed fairly classic to the redhead. The latter noticed her lack of surprise, and remembered what Flower had said to him when he was worried about whether the other participants knew about the dragons. She had nodded, stating that she had warned her fellow student, since he wasn’t aware of the reptiles, which put him at a serious disadvantage compared to the others. The number "2" hanging around the figurine’s neck indicated that she would go second, which meant she wouldn’t have to worry too much about the wait. _

_ Flower was next to pick her dragon, and let out a sigh as she pulled out a small figurine representing a black dragon, sporting bronze horns, just like the spikes that were along its back and tail. Genesis barely paid attention to the other two picks, noting that Flower's figure had a "4" around its neck, signifying that she would go last. He felt her sigh, before pacing, sending the idiot in yellow and black out when he tried to lure her outside to speak to her in private. Flower's "you wouldn't be trying to help me cheat to pay off your debts?" made him snicker in spite of himself, especially when he saw the shocked stuttering of the blond moron, that told him that it was probably the truth. _

_ She then ignored him, resuming walking back and forth, ignoring the champions, who returned it. Anyway, everyone seemed to be on the verge of being sick. After too long, the idiot's voice echoed outside, briefly warming the crowd before calling for the first champion, the brown haired boy. He paid very little attention to the comments, especially since he saw nothing. After a while, the excited screams of the crowd told him that the boy had managed to grab his golden egg, and was apparently almost unharmed. Moments later, a new whistle sounded, signaling for the other champion. Once again, Genesis ignored most of what was going on outside the tent, his attention focused on a nauseous Flower, probably due to stress. If he could... he would have taken her in his arms to comfort her. Because she badly needed it. _

_ The blonde girl eventually grabbed her golden egg, and the crowd got excited again, before calming down when the scores were posted. The third whistle announced the turn of the dark haired boy with the hooked nose, who seemed particularly constipated at this stage. And the wait resumed for Flower, punctuated by the cries and gasps of the crowd. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the redhead, the roar of the crowd indicated that the last champion had managed to grab his prize, if he judged by the horrible howling of the dragon. After a few moments when they announced the notes, the last whistle announcing that it was Flower's turn sounded, and he felt her sigh of relief, heading for the entrance to the tent. Her legs gave him the impression of being marshmallow, and he could almost feel her panic rising crescendo, as its own stress levels. _

_ He blinked, surprised, seeing that Flower was entering a sort of arena surrounded by rocks... which strangely reminded him of the dream of the night before. _

_ In this dream… (or was it a memory of her watching a movie? He vaguely remembered a television) he had seen a teenage boy with disheveled black hair coming out of a small tunnel of rocks… a golden egg in the foreground, just before he is attacked by a species of brown wyverne, with a spiky back. The boy had done his best to dodge the tail blows of the angry wyverne, before succeeding in taking shelter in a corner, helped more or less involuntarily by the wyvern's tail, before shouting something, most certainly an incantation if he judged by the fact that the words were blocked, to his greatest frustration. _

_ The kid had dodged several more jets of flame before Genesis saw a  _ flying broom _ , of all the things that could have appeared, flying in his direction. He couldn’t hold back a facepalm in front of the stupidity of the kid, whose intention was clearly to _ challenge _ an apex predator in its chosen field, namely the sky. The redhead was unable to determine if it was courage or stupidity when he saw this. Probably a bit of both… and especially of the second. He watched the teenager jumped on the broomstick as he passed by, cheered enthusiastically by the crowd. _

_ He had to hold back a groan when he saw him rush towards the golden egg, missing his shot because of a jet of flame from the Wyvern, forcing him to deviate from his trajectory and regain altitude, followed by the reptile. The latter was stopped by the chain which tied it to the ground... before it broke it with a roar of frustration, and gained altitude, following the boy, who had opened wide frightened eyes when he had looked back, witnessing the scene... especially when the wyvern decided to spit fire... taking up the whole screen of the television. _

_ He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts by a roar, and realized that Flower was facing the dragon she was supposed to face... a thick brute covered in black scales and bronze-colored spines. The mother dragon was nesting her eggs, wings half closed, her yellow eyes, wild, fixed on him. Like a monstrous lizard with black scales, it waved its tail bristling with spikes which imprinted long and deep marks on the hard ground. The crowd was shouting in a great uproar, to encourage Flower or to make fun of her, Genesis didn’t know and didn’t care. He felt like he was on the verge of a heart attack, especially when Flower deliberately approached the nesting mother, diving behind rocks to take shelter until she was close enough. _

_ He felt her catch her breath, feeling the warmth of the rock submitted to the dragon’s flames, certainly waiting for it to stop before continuing. When the strident roar of the dragon sounded, signifying that she had to stop to catch her breath, Flower spurted from behind her protection, braking just in front of the dragon, which flinched back, visibly surprised. The next second, Genesis was now  _ proud _ to see that his friend had taken his teachings to heart, and managed to throw half a dozen flameballs with a gesture. She had been training really well, he noted with satisfaction. The only small... problem was the color of the flames. Instead of being yellow-orange... they were a pale green, almost like Mako. And, to his amazement... a single volley was enough for the dragon to flatten herself on the ground with a terrified whimper, trembling with terror. _

_ He could hear Flower whispering a bewildered "what the..." before the mother dragon grabbed the golden egg, rolling it towards the teenage girl, who grabbed it immediately, obviously not wanting to discuss her good fortune. The dragon then wrapped around its nest with a terrified whine, visibly trembling with fear for a reason that eluded him. Flower then rushed without hesitation towards the tunnel where she had come from, the stadium plunged in shocked silence. Genesis was himself stunned. _

_ Wild dragons used fire to assert their dominance over one another. The more fire a dragon produced over a long period of time, the more it was respected by others. Usually half a dozen fireballs was far from enough. Dominance fire struggles could last up to half an hour for the most powerful and stubborn. Genesis was one of the few humans able to enter a dragon territory and not be immediately attacked on sight, having defeated several dragons in combat with fire. The latter generally left him in peace when he had to pass through these areas, even if they came to challenge him when he was leading a battalion through their territories to save time. _

_ But never, ever, had he seen a dragon submit as quickly, and above all give up something that they kept. Whether it's a treasure or an egg… and for this dragon, this object represented both. _

_ Flower was joined by a strict-looking woman whom she called Professor, making him understand that she was a member of the teaching staff. Her questions about how she had learned to use Necromancer fire were met with frank disbelief. She insisted that she had never used this kind of spell, claiming that her only training had been to create normal fireballs. And that it was the first time that her fireballs took on this color. Her teacher seemed highly skeptical, but as the nurse's brief examination revealed that she was unharmed, her teacher brought her back into the arena, more exactly by the stands, bringing her to a small box which looked like the official grandstand of the big sports stadiums, where the judges were. _

_ The idiot looked slightly uncomfortable in front of Flower, but kept his cretinously happy expression... and he would never have said that, but he still preferred Zack's happy-go-lucky attitude. The boy was at least honest, while the blond man was clearly questionable. He then announced that he would give the points to Flower (and Genesis growled angrily when her name was blocked again) before the huge woman (she was even taller than Angeal, he realized with shock) raised her wand impassively, but the stick trembling minutely before a silver ribbon came out of the tip, entwining to form a six. Next was a stern man, the ribbon forming a seven this time, followed by the old schnock with questionable tastes, who gave the same note. Another man, even more doubtful than the blonde (and who was in no way hiding it), raised his wand in turn... letting out a two. He felt Flower snort ironically, whispering "some things don't change" before the old goat spoke quietly, his voice ringing around them, probably amplified either by loudspeakers or by magic. _

_ “Miss ******, will you allow us to ask you a few questions?” He asked calmly. _

_ The concerned sniffed with a certain contempt, before responding. _

_ “Go ahead.” _

_ The shady man with black hair, wearing a goatee, spoke, his tone and his attitude so contemptuous that they made Genesis want to make him taste Rapier. _

_ “Are you aware that you have broken at least several laws in your country with your little demonstration, Miss?” He asked, revealing blackened snags, disgusting the redhead. “With such a display of  _ black _ magic, you wonder how the people here can call you their Savior, if you are so ready to use forbidden magic,” he quipped. _

_ Flower gave a growl of anger, visibly exasperated. _

_ “By all the... I have  _ no idea  _ what you're talking about, you old schnock! Anyway... you know something about dark magic, no? With your past?” She asked mockingly, giving him the bird. “And what magic are you talking about anyway? I’m sure I’ve never heard of it!” _

_ “In any case, how did you manage to learn how to use Necromancer Fire?” The old goat asked sternly, looking at her with a disappointed expression. “This is the darkest magic there is!  _ Who _ taught you?” _

_ Flower's bitter laugh visibly surprised them, judging by the way they stirred nervously. Then she replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm and contempt. _

_ “Do you really think I will answer you after the incompetence you have shown?” She growled in response, visibly furious. “You, who allowed me to be entered in this tournament AGAINST MY WILL? And you imagine that I will answer you? What next? I DIDN’T signed up to participate in this farce! All this just because you are too cowardly to fight on your own, and prefer to send a child who has been abused by her family to the stake! In WHAT should your opinion matter to me?” She asked, contemptuously. _

_ “You used black magic, girl!” Thundered the goatee man, glaring at her while straightening up in his seat. “A magic so dark that it was banned centuries ago!” _

_ Flower snorted contemptuously once more, especially when the old goat added his two cents. _

_ “**** is right, Miss ******. This magic has been banned for a good reason, you shouldn't know what it is, or even less use it.” _

_ “Oh, as I wasn’t supposed to know about the Cerberus locked behind a door in the second floor hallway?” She sneered. “Or the fact that it only took a spell learned less than a week earlier to open that fucking door?” _

_ “Miss ******!” Exclaimed the woman who had accompanied her, visibly scandalized by her language. _

_ But Flower was far from finished, and was even just starting to warm up. _

_ “Or the fact that the obstacles it was protecting were simple enough for a trio of first years to overcome them, with ********* himself waiting for us at the end? Trying to kill me?” _

_ Genesis didn’t understand the name that had been spoken, but the shock he perceived in the stands made him understand that it was important, especially when he saw the people before him shudder. The goatee man and the strict woman in particular. The huge woman seemed to be torn between shock and anger, but he could sense that Flower was far from done, quite the contrary. Her voice had gradually increased in volume, and he could almost feel it echo in his body. _

_ “Or the ******** who wandered in the school during my second year?” She asked angrily, making the goatee man opened his eyes wide, leaving him speechless. “Petrifying students on *********’s orders? Trying to kill one? Who had to deal with this shit? Not you, Professor, even though you had had half a century to solve the puzzle, including the fact that a student was killed that time! How do you explain that a second year student could do it for you? And let's not talk about last year!” She exclaimed, raising her arms to the sky, starting to walk back and forth, too furious to stay still. “*********! Fucking ********* posted around the school! Around helpless children! I almost died because of them!” _

_ “Miss ******!” Exclaimed the old goat, a slight shade of panic coloring his voice. “That’s enough!” _

_ Flower suddenly turned to him, stopping her pacing. Even if Genesis couldn't see her expression, he could perfectly imagine her gaze burning with contained rage. _

_ “That’s enough?” She asked softly, the cold in her voice making chills go down the redhead's back. “No, Professor, it’s not enough. Far from it. I would also like to know why ****** ***** didn’t receive a trial, and was sent to ******* without further ado. When he was my godfather, and should have taken care of me when my parents died, not my magic hating aunt!” _

_ “Who told you that?” Asked the old goat, who was almost sweating, visibly uncomfortable. _

_ Flower sniffed contemptuously. _

_ “Unlike the sheep that make up the majority of the wizarding population,” she scoffed, “I don't eat everything that I am told. When I learned that the fugitive who had escaped from prison was my godfather, at the end of last year, I wrote to the Ministry asking for details about his trial. And guess what? No one has been able to answer me. Which means that his case was either... "lost",” she said sarcastically, “by people who had a vested interest in his staying in prison... or he was never tried. And you ask me to trust you?” She asked coldly, her tone contemptuous. “To respect you? Are you stupid or just completely senile?” _

_ “Miss ******!” Thundered the old man, rising and letting out something furiously reminiscent of Sephiroth’s aura to Genesis. “It’s not about me or the Ministry! Answer the question!” _

_ Flower looked at him for a long time, silent, before answering softly. _

_ “Answer your question? I'm going to do a lot better than that,” she said, taking out her wand, raising it to the sky. “I, **** **** ******, solemnly swear on my life and my magic that I have never used Necromancer fire, and never wanted to do so. I also swear I never found any information about Necromancer fire, so mote it be!” _

_ The redhead shivered as he felt the magic literally swell in and around her, absently realizing that the very ground was shaking underfoot, and that the air made him feel like it was vibrating down to the molecular level. The very plan of existence shivering around them. The sensation disappeared as quickly as it came, and Flower brought up a flock of birds from her wand, before putting it back in her pocket. _

_ “Now,” she said softly, her low, dangerous voice echoing in the sudden silence, “Are you going to continue calling me a liar, or are you going to end this farce, and let me go rest?” _

_ Silence reigned for a long time, before the idiot in yellow and black robes rose, a falsely cheerful smile on his lips, and approached her with a leaping step, also addressing the other champions that had certainly arrived meanwhile, and that Genesis hadn’t noticed. _

_ “Congratulations to all!” He exclaimed, looking as happy as if he were the one who managed to snatch a golden egg from a dragon. “And now, a few clarifications very quickly. You will have plenty of time to breathe before the second task, which will take place on February 24 at 9:30 a.m. but, meantime, we will give you something to think about! If you look closely at the golden eggs that are in your possession, you will see that they can be opened... You see the hinges, there? So listen carefully: these eggs contain a riddle that you will need to solve to find out what the second task will consist of and how to prepare for it. Everything is clear? Are you sure? All right, you can go!” _

_ *I just have one last word to say to you, Mr ******,” replied Flower calmly, approaching him. _

_ He looked at her without understanding, visibly curious, and opened his mouth, beginning to speak... before cutting himself into a strangled squeak when the teenager struck him with all her strength in the crotch. Genesis may have hated him... at that moment he couldn’t hold back the grimace of compassion. It must hurt. The "ooooooooh" from the stands was probably made by the male half of the audience, including the other men in front of him. Flower's voice rose again in the near-total silence, barely broken by the moans of pain from the idiot prostrate on the ground in front of her. _

_ “That was for  _ insisting _ that I participate in the tournament when I’m a  _ minor _ . And that,” she says with a  _ kick _ in his already battered jewels, “is for not having suggested changing the test! Are you totally stupid or just completely sadistic for sending a  _ child who didn't even pass her first exams yet _ to face a fucking dragon?” She growled angrily. “You're disgusting,” she finished in a disgusted tone, shaking her head. _

_ She then turned around, her back stiffened with anger, passing by the official champions without giving them a look. Genesis could, however, see them fearfully move away from Flower, which he could hardly blame them, any more than her explosion. But if he had been there, he would have gladly offered her his arm to escort her out of the arena... and most certainly far from this school. He could clearly see that she was so done of all their bullshit, and he sympathized. She didn't deserve all of this. _

_ Genesis heard two voices cheering her in the stands, echoing in the near-total silence. His lips stretched into an amused, ironic smile as he began to realize that maybe, just maybe, he was starting to fall for her. Flower... had that flame in her that he desperately sought in the people he seduced... but that practically no one had. Only his friends seemed to have that same flame that was burning in Flower... even if it would have been more accurate to speak of an infernal blaze at that moment. The redhead would have taken great pleasure in charring the majority of the people present... before turning his back on the ashes and taking Flower with him, far from these imbeciles. _

_ A trio of redheads (including her friend) and a girl with bushy brown hair rushed down from the stands, surrounding her. But not to congratulate her, unlike the idiot, more to make sure she was fine. The dream began to dissipate for Genesis, even as he felt Flower's shoulders relax, the tension slowly dissipating from her body. However, he would have liked to take her in his arms to comfort her, the frustration of being unable to do so was driving him almost mad. _

_ To be continued… _

_ Here is the first chapter devoted to our favorite pyroman, out of three in total, given the length of the next one. Each chapter of the Elites will have a different task for those who see it, with some common elements, and interludes on their side.  _ ** _(Happily singing Burn baby burn - Dragon)_ **

_ Once the school year is over, there will be an interlude with Rose’s point of view, before resuming for the next year. _


	5. Fragments of fire part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (finally done with this chap! This is the hardest fic I have translated yet. Because of the double presence in Rose I often confuse or don't know which one is addressed at times, so yes you may find errors that I miss. Im not perfect, so don't flame my translation *glare* We do not appreciate pot shots at our hard work. Remember i'm not obligated to translate this for you i can very well read it in french. I am doing this for those that can't read in french so they may enjoy this great story. - Dragon)

Genesis fought against the urge to throw a fireball at his alarm clock when it started to ring, finishing waking him up and not helping his mood. Fighting the urge to pull his hair out, or throw his alarm clock against the wall, he stood up, dressing quickly with furious gestures. Flower's life… reminded him more and more of Sephiroth's… with a few details of difference. But both... had had a difficult life, which wasn’t looking like it was stopping. Isolated most often, with tests too heavy for their shoulders, which gradually became worse and worse. And no one doing anything to help them, he realized suddenly. Making his decision, he decided to help the General more often with his paperwork. Yes, he  _ hated _ paperwork with a passion... which didn't stop him from seeing his friend's exhaustion under his workload.

It wasn’t much, he knew, but even this little could help the silver haired man, if only by showing him that he wasn’t alone. And that might help him feel less helpless, he told himself as he went to get breakfast, feeling a little calmer because of his decision.

Then heading for his office, he glanced disgustedly at the piles of documents on it. He hated paperwork, but with his job, he couldn't escape it. The only good point was that he rarely had silly requests, people having learned the hard way that his already short patience was non-existent for bullshit. Genesis suddenly frowned as he read a mission report. This group had apparently been sent on a mission to exterminate monsters, but the number of wounded in the unit was abnormally high… especially taking into account the fact that they should have easily got out if they had worked as a team as they learned. Reading more carefully, his anger started to burn again when he realized that one of the 3rd Classes was responsible for the fact that his companions had been injured. Apparently, the idiot believed himself to be so much better than the others that he had ignored the instructions of the 2nd Class who was with them, even allowing himself to contradict orders. Miraculously, no one was dead, but there were several seriously injured. And the worst part was that this fool blamed the others.

Genesis gently placed the sheet on the desk before grabbing Rapier, placing it behind his back without hesitation, and calmly left his desk. The people he encountered in the halls immediately cleared his path, staring at him with some concern. Most were on the verge of running when they saw a strangely dark Coeurl walking down the halls, his vibrissos crackling with static electricity, before blinking, and seeing Commander Rhapsodos in its place. His expression was strangely calm, but there was like an... aura of danger emanating from him as he strode down the halls.

Arriving at the cafeteria, he ignored everyone as he scanned the room for his prey. His voice rose calmly, asking where the 3rd Class Dirk Garlost was. The people hurriedly strayed from his path, clearing a passage in the right direction. Seeing him in the corner, and especially as he had his back turned to him, a slight evil smile appeared on his lips as he walked towards him. He ignored the panicked signs of the 3rd Class SOLDIERS who were with his target, who didn’t seemed to have noticed anything, even as those who were sitting next to him moved away as discreetly as possible... until his hand fell on his shoulder, making him jump in surprise.

The SOLDIER in question swallowed when he saw the Scarlet Commander dominate him with his presence, a disturbing smile on his lips. The general consensus in the SOLDIER from the moment you entered the program was to  _ avoid _ getting his attention as much as possible. Known for his explosive temper and his habit of swinging fireballs like confetti, few were those who wanted to attract his attention... because it was rarely positive. And if he judged by the smile on his face… he was good to go update his will.

Genesis effortlessly lifted him from his seat, before literally dragging him out of the cafeteria, the SOLDIER, pale as a dead man, not even daring to resist or protest. It was rumored that Commander Rhapsodos could be even more vicious if they tried. It didn't diminish his bad feeling, especially when the Commander dragged him into a VR room, calmly locking the door behind them. Finally letting go, he walked over to the console to start the simulation, calmly speaking during this time.

“So, 3rd Class Garlost, you really think you know more than a Second Class? Who’s not only stronger than you, but also more experienced? Well... let's see how it goes,” he said, activating the simulation without even looking at him.

The half hour that followed saw him face the same monsters as on his last mission, causing him to cry out in pain many times as the latter repeatedly hit him. Between hits, he could see Commander Rhapsodos leaning against a rock, Loveless in his hands, reading the book for the umpteenth time. Ignoring completely what was happening next to him, taking his sword in hand only to kill those who approached him, without even looking up from the volume.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to him, the Scarlet Commander paused the simulation, looking at him coldly.

“So... SOLDIER Garlost... do you have anything to say about your behavior? Or do you prefer to maintain your statement?”

Dirk was unfortunately too narrow-minded for his own good, and continued to blame the other members of his unit, sinking even further, until Genesis cut him off by closing his book with a sharp gesture, putting it in the inside pocket of his coat. Grabbing Rapier, he moved away from the rock he had been leaning on until then, spinning it in the air with a supernatural calm for the explosive pyroman he was, and Garlost felt a shiver of terror run across his back. He was fucked.

And the Commander Rhapsodos began to methodically kick his ass, being careful not to hurt him more seriously than he had already suffered, but humiliating him completely with his strength and superior technique. The blows were carefully calculated to give him maximum humiliation with minimum injuries. Whenever he found himself on the ground, his superior ordered him to stand up, and he did his best to obey as quickly as he could, his hair burnt in places testifying to the times when he had failed to stand up again fast enough.

Finally, after an indefinite time, he broke down, and began to beg for the Pyro Commander to stop. Swearing that he would apologize to others and never do it again. Not that he fully intended to do so, but he was more or less ready to give up his pride so that the madman who served as his superior would stop.

Genesis paused, looking at him for a long time, before taking out his PHS and stopping the simulation, much to the relief of his punching bag of the moment. Who gulped when he saw the impassive expression of the redhead, especially when a devilish smile stretched his lips.

“Strangely... I don't feel like you're being completely sincere, SOLDIER. But I know a very simple way to make sure you keep your word. Follow me,” he ordered, turning away, heading for the door.

Garlost swallowed again before hastening to obey, not wanting to rekindle the fire of anger in the Commander. He was aware of how fortunate he had been to get out of it almost whole, and didn’t want to jeopardize his good fortune.

The cadets waiting outside the room hurriedly pulled away as they saw Genesis coming out of the room, the instructors shaking their heads when they saw who was following him. It wasn’t for lack of warning him, though. Ignoring the two men who were leaving, they brought in the cadets, having lost enough time like that.

Quickly walking forward, Genesis made his way to Sephiroth's office. Knocking on the door, he entered as soon as the silver haired man gave him permission. Raising an eyebrow at the 3rd class in poor condition, which followed the redhead fearfully, he looked at his friend, waiting for an explanation.

“Sephiroth... this SOLDIER is on mail duty,” says Genesis simply, without losing his evil smile.

The concerned fought against the urge to piss himself seeing a similar smile appear on the lips of the Icy General, despite the relieved confusion he felt. Why this expression for a simple mail duty? Although he remembered that those who had suffered this punishment refused to speak about it, trembling like leaves as soon as the simple word " _ mail _ " was spoken. As if they were traumatized. His confusion didn’t get better when the General took a piece of paper from one of his drawers, signing it quickly after asking the Scarlet Commander how long the punishment should last. A month of opening and sorting mail didn't seem so bad, he told himself while following Genesis to the mail sorting center.

Opening the door of a room on the side, the latter entered, still followed by the confused SOLDIER, who vaguely noticed the numerous packages and letters everywhere... and the enormous trash baskets located around the tables. Scanning the room, Genesis raised his voice, speaking to one of those present.

“Wilson! Your replacement has arrived, you can go. I hope you have learned the lesson?” He asked towards the concerned man, who looked like someone who had just seen Minerva in person.

“Yes, my Commander!” He exclaimed fervently. “I have understood the lesson my Commander!”

He then grabbed his things, and literally  _ fled _ the room, making Garlost open wide eyes. What was going on in this room? He wondered fearfully, getting a bad feeling, accentuated by the expression of desperate resignation of the other SOLDIERS present. Genesis’ shadow falling on him immediately brought him out of his thoughts, and he instinctively stood by, shivering in fear at the blue eyes that stared at him coldly.

“Here is your new assignment for the next month, SOLDIER. And, just to warn you... any attempt to rush through your work will add up to a  _ week _ each time. Is this understood?”

“Yes Commander!” Squeaked Garlost, terrified.

“Good,” said Genesis with satisfaction. “In this case, I leave you here.”

And he did exactly that, turning around and leaving, closing the door behind him. Garlost gulped when he saw the look of the Turk who was overseeing it all, an amused glint in his eyes, his expression otherwise impassive. The latter pointed to the place Wilson had just vacated, snapped him out of his thoughts.

“You should get started, the mail is not going to open itself. Wilson was working on Commander Rhapsodos' mail, by the way. So be careful.”

Garlost looked at him with incomprehension, but did so, going to stand in the empty place. His confusion only lasted until the first package was opened. And there, he sincerely regretted having been an idiot.

When he returned to his dorm that night, he was on the verge of hysteria, desperate to realize that he still had a  _ whole month _ to go. His roommates looked at him with incomprehension at his condition.

“Dude, what happened to get you in this state?” Asked one of his friends.

“I found myself doing mail duty.  _ Fan mail! _ ” Garlost replied, trembling with disgust and horror mixed.

The others looked at each other without understanding.

“What's so horrible about that?” Asked another, frowning. “You just open letters and parcels, right?”

Garlost trembled again in response.

“Dude, I ended up with my fingers full of  _ jizz _ because someone saw fit to send a used naughty calendar to Commander Rhapsodos!” He replied, unable to stop his voice from going high. “Without counting the panties of various dirty conditions! I think I'm going to be sick,” he groaned pitifully, pale as death. “Seriously, guys, whatever you do...  _ don't end up getting mail duty! _ ” He begged, his complexion greenish.

The others looked at him with incomprehension, wondering if he was not leading them by the nose. But his traumatized expression was too sincere for that, and they exchanged uncomfortable looks.

Meanwhile, Genesis had returned to his office, now feeling a little better after his actions. Some might have thought that he was too harsh on his punishments, but... the Scarlet Mage  _ hated _ those who hurt others because of their own incompetence or stupidity... like that idiot who had supposedly "taught" Flower during a year. It was only by  _ pure luck _ that everything had ended well for her. He shook his head in spite of himself with a certain disgust. That idiot was lucky to have erased his own memory. Otherwise... Genesis would have been happy to let him know his thought, he said to himself, sitting down at his desk, putting away the report that had pushed him out in the first place in the folder where he put those who drew his attention to precisely this kind of behavior.

Even if he doubted that the idiot would start again after opening his fan mail for a month, he thought with a wicked smile. His mail was considered the worst of that punishment, his fans being of both sexes. He chuckled softly as he resumed work, listening distractedly to the radio.

oOo

_ Genesis looked at the laptop with some surprise. How could Flower be able to afford something so expensive? He knew she apparently had money, in her own words, but to the point where she could afford this? He couldn’t restrain a slight grimace, however, in front of the dirtiness of the computer, seeing stains on the keyboard as well as the screen, as if she had drunk or eaten in front, without counting the dust which had apparently accumulated on it. To believe that she could afford to treat it with such lightness. Even he was careful with his own laptop… just like Sephiroth. Taking great care of it. _

_ His attention was briefly drawn to her hands who were writing on the keyboard, noticing with a certain stupor that they didn’t seem to belong to Flower… too big, like those of an adult, and especially not having the scars of those of the teenage girl, before he was distracted by her grumbling about her long hair under the headset she was wearing, adjusting it, before replying with sarcasm to a woman's voice telling her to cut her hair, amused, that it wasn’t yet the time for his biennial haircut, making him blink with astonishment, and laugh this person as well as another. Then Flower began to click quickly several times, too fast for him to have the time to distinguish what was written with certainty, and to launch... a cartoon? Genesis wondered incredulously which rich kid could treat something so expensive indifferently... and especially watch a cartoon on it? _

_ However, he blinked in surprise when he saw the features of the characters... and what were these critters? The man he could see at the start of the movie didn’t inspire trust in him, however, especially seeing the way he trapped the firebird. It was outright cruelty. And, if he trusted what he saw... two more of these birds were also his targets. The song that resounded right after this scene, even as he saw a strange silhouette underwater... made him strangely think of the song of a whale, slightly deformed, but strangely beautiful. The redhead tilted his head to the side with some interest when he saw the strange creatures coming out of red and white balls, about half bigger than the size of a Materia. A snicker escaped him in front of the little electric mouse... even if its concerned air puzzled him. The fact that he couldn't understand what they were saying, apart from a few words here and there, the language strongly resembling Wutai, was particularly annoying. And what was apparently subtitles was totally incomprehensible, the language looking like nothing he knew... except what were probably the names of the people who apparently worked on the movie. _

_ An annoyed growl escaped him mentally, even as he tried to follow the movie, the visuals clear enough that he could understand most of the plot. He burst out laughing despite all seeing the couple with their… speaking cat(?) in their submarine in the shape of a giant fish. Their desperate expression when they saw they were heading straight for the cliff was hilarious. _

_ The animals’ behavior in the story, however, intrigued him greatly. The latter seemed to have felt that something had happened... as if the natural balance had been disturbed by the capture of the firebird. He snickered when he saw the shock of the old scientist (who seemed infinitely more bearable than Hojo or Hollander) when the creatures moving in the ground lifted him with his bike, forcing him to abandon it to jump on the nearby fence, taking away his means of transport. Genesis noted despite everything that he seemed concerned about the phenomenon, which was obviously not normal in the story. Not to mention clearly extreme weather events. Kinda like the snow in summer. Or the northern lights at the wrong latitude. _

_ The scene with the strange costumes almost gave him a heart attack by its suddenness, even if he quickly realized that it was clearly a traditional celebration. The little rebel made him laugh with her attitude, which pleased him enough. She clearly had a fire in her. He watched the party with curiosity, before blinking with some surprise when he heard the rebel playing her musical instrument. An… ocarina if he was not mistaken. Why did the music seem so familiar to him? He frowned when he saw her grab fruits to put it in front of the boy with the cap, suspecting that it had a meaning, but barely understanding beside the word "treasure". What was the connection? _

_ He chuckled, however, on seeing "Pikachu" grabbing his master's cap, running away with it to force him to follow him. The facepalm when he saw him rush immediately into the night, however, would certainly have hurt him if he had been in his own body. Especially seeing the storm starting. But what an idea to do that! Not to mention the others who went after them, making him shake his head. He snickered when he saw the couple and the talking cat on the other hand. They were still lucky after their "shipwreck" to reach the mainland. On the other hand... they were obstinate to embark immediately on the second boat... and without the small group of teenagers seeing them. A slightly amused sniff escaped him at the almost cute little cries of the talking egg that the redhead held in her arms. Even if it looked more like a chick than anything else. _

_ He watched the following scenes carefully, noticing how the disturbances were getting worse now that the firebird was trapped, that the one of... lightning? perhaps? seeming to extend its influence over the territory of his companion, if he relied on the yellow squares spanning the sort of chessboard of the early man. Genesis tilted his head to the side, intrigued, seeing the kind of current displayed on the cartoon's television, realizing that it confirmed his suspicions. Apparently there was a balance between fire, ice and lightning, and the capture of the fire had destabilized everything. _

_ He suddenly noticed that the woman with the old scientific sported a striking resemblance to the kid in the cap and yellow mouse, and the redhead wondered if she wasn’t his mother. In any case, she seemed very worried about her son, and he couldn’t hold back a touch of painful envy, even knowing that it was only a cartoon, probably for children if he trusted the animation. The video call to the scientist's computer made him half cackles, mostly because of the panicked boy he could see coming and going behind the blasé looking woman who was speaking, her words seeming to make the scientist realise something, if he judged by his shock. _

_ Meanwhile, visibly, the boy in the cap continued on his way on the raging sea, the pilot of the boat clearly doing her best... until the rudder was torn off by a rocky pillar when it was propelled into the air by a wave, making it uncontrollable. Another wave propelled them far on the bank, causing them to fall from the command post, the boy still succeeding in catching his rodent, clinging to what looked like a communication antenna.Strangely, they had landed almost at the foot of a long stone staircase ... which the mouse took without hesitating for a second when its master jumped to the ground, peeping to get his attention. The latter left in pursuit without hesitation, despite the worried calls of the young woman who steered the boat. Obviously, he understood his companion well enough to know that he was telling him something important, despite the language barrier.  _

_ The second ship was close behind them, the teenager still in her festival dress at the controls, focused on navigation. In spite of himself, he chuckled at the panicked expression of the illegally embarked trio as the boat literally surfed along a roll, practically lying on its side, the teenagers seeming to be half teasing, probably to keep their nerves under control. They ended up coming out of the roll… shortly before a wave propelled them into the air, making the boat turn on itself… and taking off the trio which had stowaway, clinging to a tarpaulin, making him half laugh, worried despite himself for the teenagers. Fortunately, the boat fell back on the water in the right direction, continuing towards the island without any problems. _

_ He sniffled with some amusement when he saw the woman who had accompanied the boy make herself a coffee with a small snack... just before everything started to tremble for her, knocking down the stove and the bread placed on a cooler with the lid kept horizontal with the system D. At least she was sheltered from the elements in her cabin, he could see, unable to hold back some amusement in front of the situation. She seemed quite surprised to see the second boat with the teenagers, the latter stuck atop a rocky pillar. They exchanged a few words, until the second boat started to slide, causing panic in the brunette and redhead, their captain however remaining in control, acting without hesitation. Pulling on a lever located under the dashboard, it caused the opening of the bumps that had intrigued him so much on the hull of the boat, where the deck should have been. _

_ He watched the mast deploy with some admiring surprise at the ingenuity of the boat, especially when the wind literally  _ propelled  _ the ship up the stairs, the teenager directing it completely focused on its handling. The others seemed just as surprised by the phenomenon, while also being relieved, especially when the wind began to move them on the stone steps, making him wince imagining the damage on the hull. Fortunately it was a cartoon for kids! _

_ However, he gritted his teeth when he saw the firebird continue to struggle in his prison. The story had better end well, or he would sue the movie producers! He was distracted from this futile thought by the appearance of a hologram... representing a bird? Yellow in color, whose wings had a strange shape. Lightning seemed to run over its body, and he wondered if it wasn’t the lightning bird. _

_ During this time, the boy continued to run behind his mouse, which rushed itself up the stairs, keeping its lead. His exasperated calls made Genesis understand that the boy was certainly asking it where it was going, but the mouse was obviously turning a deaf ear to his calls. He laughed, however, at the trio hidden behind a rock, the latter giving the impression of being stereotypical villains. They were still fun, he thought, smiling when he saw them laughing. _

_ Finally, the teenager arrived in a sort of... crater, in which was a thick mist, and where a stone protrusion was visible, like the prow of a ship. At the end of it was a kind of altar, to which the mouse immediately went, climbing on it and attracting the attention of its master on a small crystalline sphere a little larger than a Materia. It was in the... beak? of a statue representing a bird, probably that of fire if he judged by the sculpture. The boy took hold of the sphere without hesitation, struggling to free it from its support, almost losing his balance when he finally got there. Then he walked away, suddenly looking at the sphere he was holding. It was orange like fire, a flame dancing inside, to Genesis utmost fascination. _

_ The mouse then began to act up, heading for the stairs, followed by his master... until the idiotic trio appeared, at the boy's obvious exasperation. And he was right to think that they looked like stereotypical villains, given their rather ridiculous behavior... before exploding with laughter seeing their panicked expression when the sailing boat appeared at the top of the stairs, fleeing at full speed to not end up crushed. Just like the boy, making him cackles without being able to help it. The ship stopped fairly quickly, the teenage girls on it scolding the boy who seemed rather disconcerted, before the redhead got upset at something the other girl said to her... the woman from the villains trio apparently coming to put her grain of salt, to the amusement of her companions, which she snap back to with anger, causing them to burst out laughing. _

_ The next second, lightning flashed over the edge of the crater, the lightning bird appearing the next moment, uttering hoarse cries while dropping the lightning under him, forcing people on the ground to take refuge under the boat. Genesis noticed with some interest the way some of the pillars began to glow, lightning-streaked, when the lightning created by the bird fell on them. Like... like he was taking control? The bird circled around the crater, as if to establish its domination over the place, before coming to perch on the altar of the firebird, while the electric mouse began to... attack it? The redhead shook his head in front of the scene, especially when he saw that its attacks were being dismissed. The mouse didn't give up, however, until it had the bird's attention. _

_ During this time, a strange bluish glow had started to emanate from the ground, almost giving the impression that someone had tampered with gravity, judging by the way the characters' clothes and hair were lifted. The lightning continued to pass through the atmosphere, fascinating him, and making him regret not understanding what was being said. Finally, the bird seemed to notice the presence of the mouse, and turned its attention in its direction, spreading its wings and emitting a strong electric current in its direction. The cat began to speak in rhythm with the bird, as if... translating its words? The lightning then flashed from everywhere, making him blink in shock. This animal... seemed to have near perfect control over the electricity, like he himself had over fire. _

_ The general panic made him snicker... until his amusement was cut short by the absorption of electricity by the clouds, which made him frown. He swore softly when he saw the movie villain’s flying fortress slowly descend from the clouds, absorbing the bird’s electricity. He had to admit it, it was an ingenious tactic. Absorbing the animal's energy would weaken it, making it more vulnerable and susceptible to capture. This was proven soon after when the same objects that had captured the firebird emerged from the growth under the flying ship, rushing at the creature. Mentally, he decided to call it Lightning, and his companion Fire. _

_ Lightning, therefore, fought its best against capture, causing that of the humans and their companions ashore at the same time, were captured with the boat. But the situation was a forgone conclusion, and it ended up being a prisoner too. The scene then passed over the man, and Genesis frowned when he saw the sort of... pawn? which was shaped like a blue bird, probably the last of the trio. The second pawn that appeared next to it, however, had a very different shape, and he could have sworn that the man had said the word "king." Was it the leader of the trio? The song that resounded right after that seemed to confirm this intuition, especially seeing the silhouette underwater, the current seeming to be losing more and more of its shape, unable to continue to do its job. _

_ Back in the flying fortress, the synthetic voice seemed to announce something, probably the capture of the small group of people. The latter were locked in a cage, between Fire (which had apparently ceased to struggle) and Lightning, and with a kind of pedestal containing a stone tablet engraved in an incomprehensible language, to his greatest frustration. The girl in the suit looked like she was reading the tablet, but that didn't make her more understandable, driving him almost mad for not being able to understand anything. The man coming down from the ceiling painted with angels made him sniff contemptuously. Everything in appearance, nothing in ability, even if he didn't seem totally stupid. The redhead seemed as furious as Genesis, and started inciendiating their jailer, who replied with selfless phlegm. The Commander would have gladly put his fist in his face, especially when he saw the cavalier way he treated living beings. _

_ He snickered softly as he saw him make the mistake of releasing the small group before Ice hologram appeared, causing him to rise to his throne. If he imagined that this small eclectic group was going to do nothing... he would stick his finger in his eye. He shivered in spite of himself, however, seeing the snowstorm cover the world, Ice completely raging and freezing everything in its path. Including the angry sea. A hiss escaped him when he saw the kind of report on television, showing hundreds of creatures swimming or flying in the same direction, probably towards the archipelago shown just before, which seemed to be the epicenter of the climate catastrophe. And still more apparently gathered on the shore, fixing the direction of the islands in question, motionless and silent. _

_ The scene then passed inside a helicopter flying overhead, in which were the scientists he had seen on videoconference, as well as the mother of the… hero, probably. He looked with interest at the scientist's drawings, which confirmed his suspicions. The combination of the three elements, water + ice + lightning, was what gave birth to this underwater current which he had seen at the beginning... and which was falling apart because it was no longer fed. The woman scientist added her opinion, but her words being incomprehensible to the redhead, he ignored it more quickly. The hero’s mother spoke as well, but her worried tone allowed Genesis to understand what worried her most. _

_ The next scene showed the day breaking over a frozen sea, and over the raging bird of ice, continuing to spit frozen lightning around it, before passing over the interior of the flying fortress, and the people brought in against their will. The girl in the costume seemed to read the stone with emphasis, drawing the attention of the others, who gathered around her. The brief discussion made him frown, before they climbed into his bangs when he saw the hero literally charge Fire’s prison, which had no reaction, apparently resigned. The shock sent the boy to the ground, without this seeming to discourage him, on the contrary. Genesis... could only admire the character for his persistence. _

_ During this time, the ice bird found itself facing the fortress, the turret below descending and starting to send fireballs in its direction. The blue bird skillfully avoided all the balls of flame, adding more ice to the sea as it flew over it. The redhead blinked, however, surprised to see the almost solid fireballs pierce through the thick layer, before catching a glimpse of the strange dragon again under the sea, its song resonating again... before it came out of the current and spinning around, creating an underwater tornado that rose slowly to the surface. _

_ The scene then returned to Fire, still a prisoner, before lightning strikes its electric prison, the electric mouse (Pikachu?) sending lightning, probably to try to free it. Without success, what pushed his master to bring out his strange dragon, whose tip of the tail burned with force, intriguing Genesis. He joined his strength without hesitation to that of Pikachu, opening Fire's disinterested eye. It still wasn't enough, and the redhead seemed to point that out too. Meanwhile, the trio of villains (probably not that bad, he noted with amusement) seemed to decide that they too wanted to help... and the man sent an... ugly purple thing resembling two hideous heads stuck to each other attacking Lightning’s prison... without any success. The feline seemed to get angry at the creature, before the woman released something resembling a Midgardsormr baby... capable of spitting needles like a Pampa, to his surprise. _

_ Meanwhile, the teenager, apparently frustrated with the lack of progress on his side, pulled two other creatures out of his two-color balls. A kind of little turtle spitting water... and something like a... frog?!? with a large plant bulb on its back. They began to attack without hesitation, spitting water in the same place as the other two were already attacking, the toad's vines hitting right next to it. Genesis noticed with interest the thoughtful way in which the second boy accompanying the hero and the redhead began to speak, seeming to describe something (even if the subtitles spoiled a little everything) before shouting something with a panicked air… just before an explosion occurs. Opening a hole in the outer wall. _

_ Back inside, the redhead noted with satisfaction that Fire was free… before swearing when he began to spit a torrent of flames on Lightning, who was trying to free himself from his own prison. Apparently, the flames delivered the final blow to the latter, releasing him, and the two birds fled without hesitation, enlarging the hole in the wall...  _ after _ starting to fight between themselves, making him do a facepalm. By Minerva… as if it was the time! He groaned to himself. Before shaking his head in despair when they saw them attacking the flying fortress. He could understand the desire for revenge after what their jailer had done to them, but those who had rescued them were still  _ inside _ ! _

_ Very quickly, the damage was such that the AI controlling the fortress was forced to land them in an emergency, causing even more serious damage to the structure. He almost laughed, however, when he saw them rolling down a large metal plate from the outer ring. It was pretty ridiculous, even if he had to admit that he was relieved to see them get out of it without injuries, continuing to run like crazy to get away as quickly as possible. He groaned again when he saw the fortress topple again, one of the propellers still intact coming to destroy the little sanctuary... which housed the second of the three spheres that the hero had to recover. It landed directly in front of the boy, who took it with some surprise, getting up... before having to rush away with the others when the lightning bolts strike down close to them. _

_ The underwater tornado then appeared, clearly approaching the surface, even as the elemental birds continued to fight with each other, causing further damage to the surroundings. The trio with their cat had found a way to take refuge in the teenager's boat, which had miraculously landed in the water, intact, and he growled at his inability to understand what they were saying. The small group hurtled down the slope leading to the edge of the water, jumping into the boat as soon as possible… even if Genesis didn’t really see where they could go, especially when seeing the lightnings running to the edge of the small lake… destroying the ice that held the water, the small lake started to empty quickly, forming a cataract. _

_ The boat was quickly pulled along, causing the characters to panic, powerless to stop their slide. The ship was literally propelled overboard, tearing howls of terror from the group... just before the tornado reappeared, breaking through the layer of ice and coming to catch the boat, much to the redhead's surprise. Who couldn’t see how the whirlpool didn’t also make the ship spin at full speed, if he judged by the speed with which the water swirled. The vortex in question proceeded without trouble, breaking the ice with ease in its path, even as the strange song resounded again, even clearer than before. Genesis blinked in amazement at the sound, noting that the girl seemed just as surprised. He cackled with some amusement when he saw the reaction of the trio with the feline, watching them take over the lifeboat with some panic, even though they technically risked nothing... at least, until the whirlwind propelled the boat to the land… but too close to the edge of the cliff, causing it to slide, even though the lifeboat was propelled through the air with its occupants, causing him to snort. They spent their time in the air, decidedly. _

_ The small group evacuated the now falling boat with panic. Sighing in relief when they found themselves on land... near what looked like a megalithic structure, in the center of which stood an altar. The boat didn’t break apart when it hit the ice (although it wouldn’t have been surprising given how high it had fallen), nor did it pass through the ice, but it was clear that it wouldn’t take them anywhere anymore. The group let out a sigh of relief, just before the strange talking pink creature (with some sort of… weird shell on its head?) that he had seen a few times already drew attention to itself, pointing first the boy and then the altar, seeming to give him instructions. However, Pikachu had to get his master’s attention so that he could understand, before he got up and went to the altar, examining it carefully. Before placing each of the spheres so that they were in the direction of the island from which they came... then panic slightly when the talking creature suddenly appeared  _ right next to him  _ without any warning signs. _

_ The camera (or, at least, the point of view) then focused in the background of the altar, showing the birds continuing to fight, also destroying what was around them, quickly approaching the island they were on. The boy immediately descended from the altar, approaching dangerously close to the edge, clearly calling on them to stop. The birds ignored him, their attacks creating an explosion right in front of him... which was suddenly blown by the water whirlwind, rising without warning in front of him, pushing them aside at the same time and forcing them to back off. An almost unreal silence fell on the scene, especially when a silhouette rose inside the whirlwind, visible in transparency, turning on itself to rise, accompanied by the strange song that he had already heard. _

_ The creature suddenly burst the whirlwind, revealing itself to the eyes of the world for the first time. And Genesis remained admiring before it. A huge dragonic beast, almost entirely bright white, only its belly and some midnight blue growths on its back, with long wings almost reminiscent of flattened hands, and a long dragon tail. The pink creature said a word… that caught Genesis’s attention more than anything, because it had been spoken by the movie’s villain, but also by the hero. Was... Lugia its name? It opened its mouth at that moment, its strange song rising in Flower's ears, almost making him shiver. Now that he could hear it clearly... yes, it made him think of a whale song, slightly deformed, but still beautiful. The girl took out her ocarina, visibly surprised, and Genesis realized with a delay that the melody of the instrument strongly resembled the song of Lugia. Was there a link? _

_ The POV then focused on the villain, much to the redhead’s frustration. Obviously, he had something in mind that would make matters worse. His obsession with Lugia... was downright unhealthy. Especially considering all the problems he caused by capture of elementary birds. Speaking of them... Lugia was literally harassed by them, dodging their attacks with rare elegance, twirling in the air leaving him admiring. Very quickly, however, he dived towards the frozen sea, the growths on his back pressing against it, creating a translucent shield, which protected him from the shock against the ice, the water gushing from the hole he formed while diving. And the instant the bubbles caused by his entry into the liquid element dispersed... he began to swirl on himself to create the same tornado where he had appeared, trying to attack the birds. They, however, dodged the attack, before Ice freezes the aqueous tornado, trapping Lugia inside. _

_ His figure began to shine, however, showing that he was still far from being defeated, breaking the ice that trapped him, resuming combat. Genesis blinked in surprise as he saw him create a translucent shield around him, turning the birds' attacks against them. It wasn’t enough, however, and they immediately went on to attack without hesitation, under the worried gaze of the small group who watched the scene from the island, speaking softly to each other, even as the fight continued to rage. The latter was also approaching the island, the attacks reaching the cliff just below the altar, gradually rising... until Lugia intervened to protect the humans, deploying his shield in spurts (probably to save his strength)... until a lightning strike hit him while his protection was down... leaving him vulnerable to attacks by the other two. _

_ A brief explosion occurred, before his unconscious body fell into the water, making him clench his teeth, especially when the birds furious attacked over the hole created by his body, allowing Ice to close the opening, leaving almost no trace. They then resumed their destructive combat, ignoring what was going on around them. The scene in the helicopter made him shake his head, wondering why, by Minerva, the pilot hadn’t landed and refused to continue, or even turn around in the face of danger. Even the Turks didn’t endanger their lives this way. He then saw creatures melting the ice to move forward, others just running on the thick layer, which apparently easily supported the weight of the heaviest. Others had taken to the skies, all heading for the island on which the small group was located. _

_ Which were talking to each other... the attention focused on the boy who had retrieved the two orbs, obviously causing him to panic, before the teenage girl in a suit suddenly pulled out her ocarina, starting to play. The plaintive melody rose in the air, ringing in his ears when he could see the birds continuing to fight in the distance... before the view returned to Lugia, who continued to sink into the water. Genesis blinked in surprise as he saw a faint rainbow gleam emanate from the body of the divine dragon... before it suddenly opened its eyes. As if the melody had healed him? _

_ Back on the surface, he saw the small group gazing at the ice field lying in front of them... before an aqueous tornado with shimmering colors like a kaleidoscope sprang from the water, bursting to reveal a Lugia once again in top shape. Then a voice rose, almost androgynous despite a slightly masculine side, speaking to them. He growled, understanding almost nothing, just that the spheres were important... like the boy, who seemed half panicked. The birds continued to fight during this time, not even seeming to tire, more or less blocking access to the island where he was obviously supposed to go. Genesis really felt like the boy was going to give up, and he couldn't really blame him... until he looked down, showing that Pikachu had pulled at his pants leg, and was looking at him with trust. The boy's hesitant question didn't even need a translation, just like the firm nod of the mouse. A chuckle escaped the redhead when he saw his other creatures come out of their spheres by themselves, as if affirming the mouse's words. Obviously believing in him. His reaction, both surprised and… happy, he would have said, before their faith, made him shake his head. He watched him carefully lower his head, his shoulders trembling as if he could stop crying... before standing up confidently, turning his cap over. _

_ He started to cackle when he saw him struggling to move forward in the thick snow, the latter easily reaching him at mid-calf, and almost to the chest of the mouse, which was forced to jump to manage to advance. And Genesis laughed even louder when he saw him faceplant in the snow, making him growl in despair. Shaking his head, he straightened with a desperate look, making him sniff in amusement, before the mouse drew his attention to the damaged boat a little further with "pika pika!" , making him blink. Why... was his name the same as his cry? And, now that he thought about it... that was the case with most of the critters he had seen so far, with a few exceptions. _

_ He was distracted from his thoughts by the ice flowing across the screen, strangely fast now, with the cries of the toad and the little turtle rising in rhythm... as if they were running? Before letting out an admiring whistle at the boy’s ingenuity. Use a piece of the boat like a sled, tying it to his orange dragon and two critters like Chocobos... not stupid, not stupid at all. Their paws were most certainly wider than his feet, distributing the weight better on the thick snow, allowing him to go much faster. Lugia followed them from the air, clearly there to protect them from the birds, who continued to fight in the distance. _

_ Genesis frowned when the next scene turned to the couple and their talking cat, noting that they seemed disappointed... as if they felt useless... before the helicopter appeared, clearly out of control and on the point of crashing. Inside, the passengers were screaming in panic, clearly terrified... before it crashed to the ground, letting out a cloud of snow powder. He let out a sigh of relief when the cloud dissipated, revealing the helicopter's body, almost whole except the tail... and he sincerely wondered how it could be possible. The sliding door opened, letting the passengers out, who looked unharmed, if not shaken. The couple pointed their heads over the hollow of the land on which the lifeboat stood, their gaze passing from the tail rotor to the boat in question, before they exclaimed in unison, having visibly had the same idea. _

_ The POV then returned to the boy, who continued on his way without fail... until the elementary birds focused their attention on him and his escort. Fire and Lightning attacked without hesitation, but the dragon and Pikachu responded without hesitation either, parrying the attacks with their own. The resulting explosion briefly hid the view... before the boy and Pikachu let out a cry of panic when he saw Ice head straight for them, his icy beam/flash of lightning in preparation in his beak. And he understood why. Parrying fire with fire (and it also worked with electricity) was possible, but they had nothing to counter ice. Fortunately, Lugia was there, and he placed himself in front of the improvised sled, raising his shield to protect it, deflecting the ice flashes around, before setting off in pursuit of Ice, forcing him to move away from the vulnerable vehicle. Lightning and Fire tried to attack from the sides, but he came back to counter them, repelling them with his shield. Forcing them to chase him... until he accidentally passes in front of the sled, and Lightning destroys the ice field, causing the pieces to be lifted under the force, forcing the boy to hurriedly recall his dragon, to avoid ending up in the water for him, which would probably have been fatal. _

_ He then scrambled away with his other creatures, visibly panicked, trying to avoid the gushing water... before a flash of Ice’s beem froze the water... the plates erected at an angle too sharp for him to now pass them easily. And even if riding on the back of his dragon looked possible, he might not be nimble enough to dodge attacks in the air. Genesis shook his head with some sadness. But how was he going to reach it now? _

_ He felt Flower snickered softly, even as an engine noise rose in the air, showing... the rotor of the helicopter's tail? soon accompanied by the voice of the couple in white voices, making him blink in surprise. What the hell were they doing now? Before laughing furiously when he saw them appeared. He had to admit, these two were the masters of System D. They had resources, impossible to deny it. Their... "pose", on the other hand, was particularly ridiculous. But they didn’t seem to have a bad heart, as the following scene showed, where the boy was with them in the lifeboat, propelled by the rotor powered by the original engine of the boat, rocketting above the ice barrier. The boy seemed really confused, Genesis could hear it in his tone, to see that his apparent enemies seemed ready to help him. The conversation was incomprehensible to him, unlike what happened next, the couple using the ropes running around the boat to help dodge the attacks from the birds, Lugia doing his best to protect them too. But at one against three, the balance of power was particularly unbalanced. It was a miracle he hadn't been hit a second time, thought the redhead, frowning.  _

_ Very quickly, they arrived on the island where the boy was to go, the boat literally bounding on the shore, rushing through the forest at full speed, until the boy pointed towards the opening of a cave in a triumphant tone, and into which they rushed without hesitating. Genesis could only admire the cat's piloting talents (probably), the latter making them cross the tunnel without hitting the walls once. Even though it looked relatively straight, it was still impressive enough to be highlighted. He couldn't help but let out an admiring whistle in front of the ice bridge they crossed at one point, wondering how people usually crossed it... and especially how they had sculpted it. _

_ The boat sprang out of the tunnel into a crater similar to that of the Fire island... except that it was covered in ice. The hero jumped out of the boat as soon as it stopped, climbing the steps to the altar, struggling to extract the last sphere from its support. The humans stayed a few seconds to admire the sphere, in which a blue lightning, similar to the Ice attacks, danced inside, before Pikachu apparently called them to order with a high pitch "PIKA!", on which the cat apparently added something, immediately setting everyone off. They rushed to the boat, the boy a little late, the adults immediately settling into their "posts". Ice, however, appeared from the crater’s edge just as the boy reached the boat, causing his companions to panic, who started the engine before he even got on board. He still managed to jump aboard just in time, and they rushed towards the exit... before a lightning bolt fell right in front of them, propelling the boat into the air. Fire then attacked the damaged boat, forcing them to hurry away so as to not be injured, and completely destroying the boat. Lightning had also visibly blocked the exit, huge blocks of ice blocking the entrance to the cave. The blue haired man and the cat immediately attacked the blocks, probably trying to clear a passage. _

_ The birds continued to fight with each other during this time, Ice using its frost attack on Fire, causing it to cry out in pain, before Lightning came after it, causing it to fall to the ground, screaming in pain now, bouncing off the ground, until the whirlwind of Fire’s flames hit it, propelling it to its altar, stopping it dead and clearly putting it out of action. _

_ He then saw Pikachu climbing up the rock slide by another path, no doubt, attracting everyone's attention, the cat pointing to him, presumably to push humans to follow him. They immediately climbed after him, Fire passing briefly over them, without appearing to be interested in the bipeds nailed to the ground. The couple and the cat stumbled, sprawling on the ground in a pile, the boy passing beside them without stopping, following his electric rodent and sinking into the fog below them, quickly followed by the trio, who got up, following them without hesitation. Lugia suddenly appeared next to the boy, probably questioning him about the sphere he certainly should have picked up, as the boy showed him triumphantly, nodding at the dragon. The latter lost a little more altitude, clearly inviting him to climb on his neck, which the boy did after retrieving Pikachu. _

_ Genesis closed his eyes with a groan when he saw the trio catch up to them, screaming in panic, probably not wanting to be left behind, before clinging to the mystical dragon paw’s at the last second, before he gained altitude. Except that if carrying a kid with his mouse was certainly not a problem for Lugia… two more adults and a good sized cat were going to weigh him down too much, especially knowing that there were still the other two birds in state of fighting ... and who still wanted to fight, by the way. The proof was made a few seconds later with Lightning, which sent a bolt in their direction, which Lugia barely dodged. He then deliberately lost altitude (probably) to get away from Lightning... before dodging a Fire’s whirlwind of flames, and rocketing up probably telling them to hang on, the boy clinging to his neck as if his life depended on it ... which, given the situation, was more than certainly the case. The rest were still clinging to Lugia's paw, which was clearly doing his best to dodge attacks, but was slowed down by the trio of idiots that weighed him down. _

_ The latter, however, seemed to have realized this, if he relied on the ongoing dispute between the three. The cat’s huge eyes when Lugia suddenly dodged to the side failed to make him laugh... holding back only because it was already complicated enough to follow the movie with only the pictures. He blinked, however, more than shocked, seeing them voluntarily let go of Lugia's paw, to the boy’s shock, who seemed to call them by name. Sacrificing themselves to allow them to avoid attacks more easily. Genesis could only admire their courage... before bursting in laughter when he saw them land in the water, still clinging to each other. Continuing to chuckle when he saw their shocked expressions as they came back to the surface, surrounded by dozens of animals. You could feel that it was a cartoon for children, he said to himself with amusement, snickering without being able to stop. _

_ He groaned at the discussion between the boy and Lugia, wanting to understand what they were saying... even if he suspected it was related to all the creatures at ground level. Now that the latter was lightened, he had been able to outfly the other two birds, who followed him anyway. Flying at high speed, he was clearly heading for the island with the altar, on which the boy’s other friends were, who seemed extremely worried, in particular the teen girl with the flute, the second boy clearly peering at the horizon with his binoculars. _

_ Genesis couldn't help but swear heavily when he saw capture triangles emerge from the ship, which were clearly after Lugia, which the latter seemed to realise, as did the boy. Obviously, the idiot who had started all this still hadn’t yet learned his lesson, as the passage with him proved, just after Lugia had somehow protected himself from the triangles seeking to capture him. Using his shield to keep them from grabbing him and the boy, trying to keep moving. His strange cry echoed through the air as he struggled, before hitting the ice to find himself underwater, obviously trying to get rid of them. Ineffective, and he quickly emerged, fortunately for the boy, who wasn’t able to breathe underwater like him. His shield still raised to keep the catch triangles away from his body, he went forward like an icebreaker, before gaining altitude... and concentrating energy in his mouth, shooting a kind of golden ray straight ahead of him, like the Sister Ray. _

_ The range of the ray in question was most certainly equivalent to the cannon in question, reaching the Lightning island and touching the moron’s flying fortress, making Genesis nod his head with somber satisfaction... before swearing softly to the following events. Lugia had launched another ray, surrounded by the electric triangles apparently intended to capture him, without seeming to aim at anything this time, although forcing the two elementary birds to move away... before falling again to the water, as emptied of his strength. The last triangles still on his body detaching from him, rising to the surface... just like the boy, who seemed to have lost consciousness. At least he didn't seem to have swallowed water, Genesis observed with concern, and Pikachu seemed to be able to keep his face above water... but he was far too small to do more. _

_ He gritted his teeth in spite of himself at hearing Lugia's weak voice, who then seemed to lose consciousness, continuing to sink in the water... and the current continuing to decay more and more, the weather also getting worse. On the ice, the creatures watched the spectacle helplessly in front of the events. He tilted his head to the side in amazement at the way the girl in the costume offered her flute to the redhead, speaking to her at the same time, and he managed to guess that she wanted to go help the boy, but the redhead shook her head with a slight smile, obviously refusing. His respect for the two went up a notch when he saw them shake hands like friends... or warriors, he said to himself with some amusement, remembering the kind of rivalry between them at first. _

_ During this time, Pikachu tried to keep his master's head above water, crying "pikapi!" As if to call for help. The redhead teen’s voice shouting "Satoshi!" caught the rodent attention, who saw the girl swimming towards them, impressing the Scarlet Commander, especially because of the sea state. He suddenly wondered if "Satoshi" wasn't the boy's name, because the teens had used it several times while talking to him. Once she reached them, Pikachu took hold of her as she grabbed the boy, then tugged on a rope connecting her to shore... signaling their friend to start reeling back. Fortunately, he was apparently a little older and stronger than them, and managed to tow them without too many problems, probably helped by the redhead who also had to be swimming, but who probably concentrated mainly on Satoshi, to avoid him drinking more sea water than he had already swallowed. Pulling him out of the water, he laid him on the ground, while the redhead caught her breath, before getting rid of her rope and taking care of Satoshi. _

_ He didn't see if she had given him mouth to mouth, but if he judged by the way she was shaking him when she called to him, he was breathing on his own, which was always a bonus. Genesis felt a certain relief when he saw him open his eyes... before raising his own to heaven by seeing him straighten up like a spring, rummaging in his pocket to take out the sphere. At least he wasn't too bad. He struggled with a facepalm, however, when he saw his friends trying to help him, visibly worried, and pushing them away even though he was struggling to walk. Genesis watched him go up the stairs, stumbling several times, but still straightening himself, continuing, as if pushed by a higher force. He couldn't help but snickers with amusement, however, seeing the egg creature perched on the head of the pink monster with the frilly collar around his neck, cheerfully chirping when he saw them. Satoshi showed the last sphere to the creature in charge of the altar, which nodded before letting him climb up the stairs, putting the crystal sphere in place. _

_ As soon as the boy had taken a few steps back, the spheres reacted, light rays gushing from each of them, filling the hollow in which they were set with a strange light almost reminding him of the Lifestream… just darker, he noticed. He became speechless when he saw what happened next. Underneath the snow were some scriptures that suddenly began to shine, also briefly lighting the altar’s base... before literally  _ blowing _ the snow away, down to the flowers in front. Water the same color as the light filling the altar began to spout out from under it, as if the altar had suddenly become a fountain, spilling in the grooves between the scriptures as in irrigation canals, until they reach the rock pillars around the altar... literally  _ climbing up _ on them, giving the impression of having changed them to crystal. _

_ The redhead encouraged the girl with the ocarina, visibly urging her to get moving, and she went to join Satoshi, who moved away respectfully to make room for her. Genesis couldn’t put his jaw back in place, seeing the pillars start to shine in rhythm with the melody of the ocarina. _

_ He watched in fascination as the elementary birds slowly regained their senses, raising their heads in a puzzled look from where they had apparently crashed, exhausted. The redhead watched the weather seemingly subside, the tornadoes gradually disappearing and the sky starting to clear. He blinked in amazement, taken aback, seeing the bright green water spilling out of its grooves, spilling into the sea, dying it at a speed he never thought possible. The birds resumed their flight, this time flying in harmony, having stopped fighting. Ice came to join them fairly quickly, joining their aerial ballet, spinning over the now thawed sea, the packed ice having completely disappeared, as if the green water had melted it in a few seconds. _

_ The next moment, Lugia's tornado burst through the water’s surface, before exploding, revealing him at full health. As if his appearance was what the sky was waiting for, the latter cleared completely, letting the sun shine with all its radiance, to the adolescents’ relief, while the water dried up, ceasing to flow from the fountain. As if it was no longer needed. _

_ Lugia made a few circles with the birds, before coming to land in front of the adolescents, clearly signaling to Satoshi to climb on his back. The latter indicated himself with a puzzled look, as if he couldn’t believe it, before climbing on his neck with enthusiasm, accompanied by Pikachu. He then took to the shy, Satoshi letting out a cheerful laugh, and the girl with the flute continued to play on her side. _

_ Genesis was surprised, however, seeing a sort of... silver water tornado come out of the water, letting the boy hiccup out of surprise... before it slowly bent over them, forming an immense arch in the air, below which the elementary birds almost danced. A slight contemptuous smile curled his lips as he saw the bewildered expression of the moron who had tried to capture Lugia, still in the debris of his fortress. Lugia was joined by the birds, who gave the impression of escorting him for a while, flying over the creatures which had joined the islands, and which were now leaving, those who could swim carrying those who could not on their backs. _

_ Finally, the silver whirlpool fell back into the calm sea, the creatures finally all returning back to their original habitats. The wave quickly dissipated as the birds returned to their respective islands... and Genesis dared not even imagine the cleaning of the altars which awaited the inhabitants of the islands. The one on Lightning Island was going to have to be completely rebuilt from the start. He watched with fascination as the pillars resumed their appearance of rocks after a last note from the instrument, the teen finally stopped playing, falling on her knees, looking at her ocarina in disbelief, as if she couldn’t believe that she had been playing for so long without stopping. People started to walk out of their buildings, looking around in disbelief, as if they couldn't believe it was all over. Television continues to show images of the creatures returning home. _

_ The view returned to Lugia, who let out his strange song while taking off, the sun clearly setting on the story. Coming to an end. He watched him speak briefly to Satoshi, before turning around and diving back into the water, disappearing. He couldn't help laughing when he heard the boy’s mother’s voice rise, breaking the solemn atmosphere of the moment somewhat. Before starting to give him a scolding, clearly worried for him, seeming to surprise him with her presence. He rolled his eyes when he saw the scientist getting excited about something, running away, followed by the scientist woman too. _

_ He groaned, however, seeing the movie’s villain briefly reappear under the moonlight, retrieving a card representing a kind of... cat (?) Different from that of the trio. Trio that suddenly reappeared, surprising him and making him laugh at their exhausted expressions, even if he didn’t understand what they were saying... even if judging by the way they turned to the... "camera", he could have sworn they had just broken the fourth wall. He kept snickering when he heard them quarreling until the end credits started. _

_ The latter surprised him, however, with the song that was finally understandable for him! And the words... touched his heart deeply, strangely. To the point that he paid little attention to the images that paraded... until he blinked with confusion at the next song... whose frantic pace somewhat broke the melancholy atmosphere that prevailed until then, making Flower snickers, who amused herself by singing in rhythm… horribly offbeat, however, making her friends laugh. The next song almost relieved him, much quieter than the previous one… even if he couldn't help laughing at the panicked boy from before behind the scientist, who was running back and forth like before behind her, ignored by the two scientists who were speaking with animation. _

_ A smile escaped him at the end, seeing Lugia swim with ease in the current, probably letting out his mystical song, before resuming his path, relieving him. At least... things ended well, even if he feared that the other moron would give troubles again sooner or later. _

oOo

Genesis stopped his alarm clock with an annoyed growl, despite the fact that the animated movie had apparently ended. He lay in his bed for a moment, thoughtful, thinking about what he had just seen. The dream... had been quite different from the previous ones, even if it was difficult to define in what... although the fact that Flower's hands were very different from what he usually saw, without the slightest scar, and lighter, as if she hadn't been exposed to the sun as much. They were also a little bigger, and he wondered how it was possible. Was it even Flower? He wondered as he sat down, thoughtful. Yet... so far, he had never dreamed of anyone else.

Seizing his hair with a growl of frustration, he froze suddenly surprised, hearing his voice a little more high pitched than usual... resembling the cry of Pikachu. Mmmmmmmh…. " _ Pika? _ ” He tried, curious to see if he could reproduce the sound. It was already closer, but not yet. Unable to help himself, he began to practice " _ Pika Pika! _ " in his room with amusement, trying to get closer to the sounds he had heard in his dreams... before startling badly when the door opened at the same time where he emitted a particularly sharp " _ Pikachu! _ ", very close to that of his dream, freezing like a Chocobo caught in the headlights, facing an Angeal who seemed very disconcerted.

“Gen?” Asked his childhood friend cautiously. “Was it you who made that noise?”

“Me? Of course not, seriously!” Genesis defended himself, thanking for once his theatrical nature, which made Angeal believe him, where he probably wouldn’t have believed anyone else. “You see me making what kind of noises exactly?”

Angeal blinked several times, looking at him with a puzzled look. Sephiroth stood behind him, just as perplexed. Each of them would have sworn to hear Pikachu pika-ing in Genesis’ room… but neither of them really saw Genesis doing that kind of thing. Shaking his head, Angeal apologized for disturbing Genesis, and closed the door quietly, heading back to the kitchen to take care of breakfast.

The redhead let out a sigh of relief when the door closed... before a devilish smile stretched his lips. He was going to have so much fun at people’s confusion when they heard this sound, if he trusted his friends’ reactions. Getting up, he got dressed quickly, not wanting to be late, mentally cackling at the images brought to him by his mind.

And Genesis spent several weeks mentally laughing at people, seeing them jump when they heard a high pitched " _ Pika pika!" _ into the room, looking around in confusion, searching for the source of the sound, immediately dismissing him from likely suspects because no one could imagine the proud Scarlet Commander having fun making these kinds of noises. And it made him laugh so much inside that he had fun slipping behind people who had annoyed him in a moderate way to yell a " _ PIKA! _ " just in their ears, making them jump, before escaping with the help of his Exit Materia, making them look around with incomprehension. He watched it all, snickering a little further away out of sight amused.

Doing that helped him decompress, he had to admit. With what was happening to Flower this year… he remained tense and stressed, more than usual. And the poor dear... undergoing a competition in which she had no interest, and in which she hadn’t wanted to participate, but which had been imposed on her.

His gaze landed on his calendar, his lips pursing with annoyance. Tonight... was one of the nights Sephiroth hated the most, Shinra Sr loved having balls for everything and anything. And Christmas was one of those dates. Flower… had no particular interest in this holiday, however, even if it was the second time in her life that she had received gifts. This little detail, dropped almost as an afterthought, had been added by Genesis to the folder he had mounted on her, in an effort to rescue her. But nothing would allow him to narrow the search area somewhere... because even Wutai didn’t fit. The language she spoke was almost identical to the Common Tongue, but the writing was unlike anything known. And that was driving him crazy, because he wanted one thing above all others now, it was to help Flower. Between what he saw from her past before she entered school and what she lived in said school... there was more than enough to worry about.

But he remembered the moral of the movie he had seen her watching a few weeks before. If someone allowed their obsessions to rule their life... they could ruin it for them. He still wanted to be famous, yes, just like being a hero or getting out of the shadows... but he was consciously trying to curb those desires. He didn't know if he would actually meet Flower someday... but if he did, he wanted to at least be able to look her in the eye and tell her that he had done his best to support and help Sephiroth. The latter was visibly disconcerted by his change in behavior... but he seemed to have accepted Genesis' explanation that he had thought about his life, and decided to change some things. Besides... it was the truth. From time to time, the silverette asked him how his "pen-pal" was doing, surprising him to be honest. He didn't think Sephiroth would care about this kind of stuff. His answers were honest, albeit vague, as he didn't want to say too much, lest Hojo or Hollander use the meager clues he had gathered to track her down and kidnap her. Them or his fan club, he said to himself, shivering. People were sometimes crazy.

He had heard of these crazy people who were so obsessed with an actor (actress) that they were convinced that they were the love of their life... going so far as to spy on them at home, even attack or attempt to kill them. Few had attempted this with the SOLDIERS, however, and even fewer with the Holy Trinity, as he was aware of their nickname. A SOLDIER... was, from the moment he entered the program, trained to kill and defend himself against assault, often against other soldiers (mainly from Wutai), who posed a much greater threat than the average citizen. The rare assaults on a SOLDIER had ended with the aggressor in the hospital, and not vice versa, even with the few 3rd Classes to whom it had happened. Because even the few enhancements they had were more than enough to allow them to deal with a civilian. So them? The Holy Trinity? Even the craziest weren't enough yet to try to attack them, Minerva be praised. The filthy mail packages were already quite enough. Fortunately, President Shinra had been able to be convinced that it was better for his company image to invest in x-ray machines to scan possible parcel bombs… which had happened a few times at the start, injuring several secretaries who brought them their mail. Fortunately, the wounds had remained superficial, and they had quickly left the hospital, but they still had need to insist to convince him to invest in them.

Genesis shook his head wearily as he thought about it. The fat pervert almost literally threw money out the window running after womens... but besides that, investing in the safety of his company was tantamount to pulling teeth from a dragon... or its treasure. The thought reminded him of the 1st Task Flower had to do... and the dragon she had to face, making him clench his fist angrily. His cravings for murder against the idiots who thought it a smart idea were becoming increasingly strong... and there was nothing on which he could let off steam.

He ran his hand through his hair angrily, growling in helpless frustration. Admittedly, a ball had nothing to do with an angry dragon... but he could feel that it was the last thing Flower wanted to do. She was already stared at enough like that, and this event would add a layer to it. The teenage girl had asked if she couldn’t be exempted, clearly showing her reluctance to participate, but she had been made clear that the champions' participation was mandatory. Her sarcastic response of "The  _ champions _ who signed for the tournament, yes. But an UNWILLING participant?" hadn’t been particularly taken well, and it had been stated sternly enough that she would be participating.

When she told him that... he wanted to explode.  _ Why _ put her through this? So, she told him that she intended to flip them off in revenge. If she were to participate... she might as well make an impression, if they didn't give her a choice. She had asked one or two people to accompany her, but they had declined, until the twins, her friends and unmatched pranksters offered to accompany her, and she had accepted, making a deal with them. They behaved like gentlemen all evening, and in return she would give them money and books of pranks and jokes. It had made him laugh, and he had kindly told her that he would have liked to be able to accompany her. Flower's response had made him smile... while saddening him, because she too would have liked him to accompany her. At least... she would have had fun with him, even if she doubted she would be bored with the twins.

With a sigh, Genesis went to bed, contemplating the ceiling obscured by the night. Without really realizing it... he addressed a prayer to Minerva. Praying that Flower will come out unharm this year... and against the obstacles that were thrown in her way. Closing his eyes, he tried to slip into sleep.

oOo

_ Genesis had gazed with some admiration at the room decorated for the ball. Even Shinra Sr would have struggled to match it. The room in which he was in was huge, sufficient to accommodate a good part of SOLDIER and still have room to spare. Many decorations were found everywhere, especially garlands of mistletoe and ivy, and the walls were covered with silver frost. Genesis briefly wondered how it didn’t melt, before mentally shrugging. Magic, as Flower would have said. There were over a hundred tables in the room, each with a dozen seats, from what he could see. _

_ He watched the meal with some interest, the redhead who spoke to Flower raising his hackles, he hated this kind of people. The discussion about her partners nearly angered him, especially because of what it implied about her life at school. The flower that suddenly appeared in his friend's hair surprised him, but he decided to not ask questions. However… the flower was exactly the same as the one he had dreamed of since childhood. Except that the latter was in good health. The stem was encased in a delicate silver filigree, forming a leaf. An amused smile escaped him at Flower’s words to her companions, seeing her iron will make a brief appearance, even if the two boys seemed straight and honest when needed. _

_ And respectful of her too, he noticed when he saw them dancing. They treated her with respect, like a friend, without the slightest inappropriate gesture or remark, and letting her sit after the first dance. He would have really liked to know more about the magic that made the gold plates work, and growled helplessly at his inability to know more. However, he became speechless when he realized that the girl accompanying the grumpy boy from the first task was Scholar. He doubted to be blamed for this, however, the girl didn't look like what she usually did. _

_ The apparent lack of a ceiling, however, had fascinated him more than the other students around him, and he was dying to learn more about it as well. The discussion between her red-haired friend and Scholar, however, made him want to bang his head against the nearest wall, desperate. His remarks were bordering on insulting, implying that the champion who invited her wanted only her knowledge and knowledge about Flower. Why so much jealousy? The boy in question clearly treated Scholar with respect and politeness, why was he unable to do the same? The latter ended up walking briskly, apparently hurt, and he felt Flower sigh. _

_ “Well done, ***, well done,” she said sarcastically. _

_ “What?” He replied in a surly tone, clearly hostile… and uncomfortable at the same time. _

_ “Seriously, I've had the opportunity to speak to him a couple of times, and he's honorable... for someone from a school run by a Death Eater,” she stated calmly. “You, on the other hand... you behaved like a real asshole. Are you jealous that he decided to come to the ball with ******** rather than you?” She questioned with humor. _

_ Her friend began to stutter in shock, unable to answer, suddenly red like a tomato. Obviously totally baffled, he was unable to respond when the champion who invited Scholar arrived at their table, visibly asking where she was. Flower kindly pointed him in the right direction, her friend becoming even redder in front of the older boy, adding that if he could be so kind as to comfort her a little while she finished taking care of their friend, she would be grateful. He raised an eyebrow, visibly puzzled, before nodding, moving away with a slightly awkward gait. _

_ Flower turned to her friend again, grabbing him by the collar to keep him from getting up and running away. _

_ “Oh no, you're staying right here ***,” she ordered calmly, her tone firm and unmistakable. “I’m very far from finished with you, you brainless dumbass. You have the potential to become a chess champion, according to the coaches I introduced you to, so can you explain to me  _ why _ you act like a *****?” She asked sternly. “You have as much tact and intelligence as one rigth now!” _

_ Her friend began to defend himself weakly, trying to justify himself, but even Sephiroth could have realized that he was trying more to convince himself than anything else. _

oOo

Genesis blinked when he woke up, disoriented. The dream had ended almost abruptly over Flower dragging her friend through the gardens to continue the discussion away from eavesdroppers apparently, obviously determined to get to the bottom of the problem.

He got up slowly, lost in thought. Fortunately, today was a calm day, except if for an emergency like a monster attack, which meant that he could reflect in peace on what he had seen. Sitting on the window sill, he let his gaze get lost in the haze of pollution, even if it was thinner at this altitude than at ground level. He felt... that every dream had a specific meaning. Either for Flower… or for himself.

And there... It was like sending him a message especially about jealousy. Damage it could do to loved ones. And the harm it could do.

He remained gazing outside for what seemed like an eternity until his stomach let him know that he absolutely needed to eat. With a long sigh, he got up and went to get dressed, continuing to ruminate on this subject. His jealousy... was strangely important, he realized vaguely. He was making efforts to control it, trying to understand why he was jealous of Sephiroth for example, knowing how much the latter lived a dreadful life. And he was starting to realize how his... celebrity didn't really make up for all the shit he suffered. Celebrity that he could see being another burden for the silverette who had told him repeatedly that he would gladly give it to him if he could. Showing how unimportant it was to him... like it was to Flower.

_ To be continued… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, our favorite pyroman is starting to realize that all isn’t rosy in Sephiroth's life... and that it would be more the color of shit, if you’ll pardon the expression. 
> 
> The changes are now starting to really be felt on Genesis’ side especially. And it's not done yet. The movie was there to show him how dangerous obsessions were. Even if the fact that he didn't understand anything made him half mad with frustration XD
> 
> Next chapter… the last task. And some other little events next on Genesis’ side *amused laugh*

**Author's Note:**

> Since Nightmare’s reawakening didn’t want to cooperate, any more than the Prequel, I started this story, whose plot bunny refused to leave me in peace. I will surely go back to the other two at one time or another.  
While I think about it... if you don’t like the story (or pairing), steer away, and don’t come back, thank you. Negative reviews will end up in virtual fire, thank you, it will warm me up. (And used to make me delicious foods -Dragonqueen909)
> 
> The next chapters will each be devoted to a character, with dreams featuring Rose's inside each chapter.  
See you next time, and have a good read! o /


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